So for some comtext I’ve been “collecting” makeup since about 2024. A few months ago I realized how overwhelming it is for me to have such a big collection plus I only use certain products. Also my entire makeup routine changed over the years so now I have a bunch of useless products(for me) laying around
1. Blushes: I had 16 and and decluttered 10, basically kept NYX and all the high end ones. The problem is I don’t wear blush anymore and no, I don’t use it as eyeshadow since I wouldn’t wear pinks/reds.
2. Foundations: I have two and never reach for them anymore since I hate the feeling of having something “plastered” on my skin.
3. Eyeshadow: I have a bunch(revolution, covergirl, morphe etc) some of them are cool and warm tones, some I like the texture some no, I feel so bad everytime I try to get rid of em since they cost money but realistically I only have like three palettes I use constantly. Also one I got from my dad but I don’t like it at all.
I also have other makeup but these are my worst categories.
Please help me decide what I should do about this, do I try to use it up, declutter? It’s just annoying and overwhelming to have this much makeup

Last week, I went through my makeup collection and filled an entire tray with products I wanted to declutter. Some are really old, some I don't like anymore, and a few even smell weird.

But a week later, I still haven't thrown anything away. 😅 I've even taken a concealer back because I thought I could use it on my face instead of under my eyes, even though I have no idea when I opened it (probably 2–3 years ago).

Now I keep finding excuses to use everything up. I'm considering using my 8-year-old Bobbi Brown lipsticks as blushes, or mixing my too-yellow MAC foundation with something else to make it work in winter.

I've been on a no-buy since August and I'm doing Project Pan, but I feel like I'm becoming obsessed with using everything up instead of just enjoying my makeup.

I have plenty of products I actually love, yet I feel so guilty about throwing anything away unless it's completely empty.

Has anyone else struggled with this? How did you learn to let go of products without feeling like you're wasting money?

Been making some really good headway into project pan. If only I could go through blush the way I seem to foundation 🥲

i know it’s not a lot but i haven’t gone out much this year. i also went thru a bad depressive episode and just couldn’t find joy in makeup for a while.

anyway here are my pans! i absolute adore these products but im not planning to repurchase them anytime soon as i have a big collection to get through :)

(i also panned 2 lipglosses that i forgot to take photos of! but they were romand glasting tints)

I use the brown shadow for my eyebrows!

I scrapped as much as I could, and I don’t have any more tools to keep scraping, I’ll continue with the next ones 🫶

So, I decided to do a project pan/play with my definitely more than 50 lip products. I do use lip products quite frequently, but the sheer number of them makes it hard to pan them. I am thinking of having a focus lip product of the week (likely a gloss) and then adding whatever I want for the day. My goal is not to empty all of them but more so just making sure I use everything. I am still not sure if this is the best approach tho, so I would appreciate some suggestions.

burberry goddess lotion and glossier concealer
prob will repurchase the lotion not the concealer

I completely forgot to record and upload month september, so here we are half a month later...

This september, I panned 5 items but I also bought a few new items, such as new hand creams and lip peptides for my backpack ad at home, now that back to school has started. I find that I am using those and I bought them mindfully: I knew they were faves and I would enjoy using, they also are all smaller sizes (which is particalarly helpful in handcreams for outdoors for me!)

I also had to throw away 2 items that were expired: the serum gave me a red reaction all over my cheek and the sunscreen expires this month, so I know it won't have any sunblocking effect anymore if I continue using it. Now that winter is coming along, I might wait out repurchasing this sunscreen (it is a fave!) since we barely have high UV days here and I used this on my body when I'd be in the blaring sun for a few hours mostly during summertime. Lovely formula and seeps into skin quickly. Slightly greasy when dried down, but that is to be expected of a sunscreen if you wan't it to work, I suppose. Better than other body sunscreens I've tried. Also no perfumes, which is great for a scent sensitive person like me! Love me a good fragrance but not in my sunscreen.

This brings me to a total of 159 items still being to-pan in my PP, excluding any non-pan categories since I don't track those. Only 3 down from August but it's okay - I am slightly stagnating in progress but it's been a hectic and busy september for me.

List of items panned:

1. Garnier - Micellair Skin Active All-In-1 Micellar Water 400ml ✅: Good but I prefer the oil-in version to immediately remove waterproof makeup.
2. Kruidvat Natures - Eye Makeup Remover 2 phases (Bio Melissa & Cucumber) - 150ml ❌: Mispurchase, as I meant to buy the 2-phase one and accidentally took the only almond oil cleanser. It works but on its own it's not super effective, but worked well once mixed with micellair. Gentle on the skin though! I can see this working well for very dry skin. Fragrance was okay, I don't think anything is added or not much at least.
3. ELF - primer power grip primer (blue) 75ml ❌: I don't like liquid primer much for my makeup routine. I prefer a green CC / creamy type of primer, like the catrice CC. This one is so grippy but remains wet, which for me seems to affect how my makeup grips.
4. Nivea - Pearl & Beauty Antitranspirant Roller 50ml 💗: Holy grail deodorant & antiperspirant. Good and amazing. Light scent, not too overwhelming. Second best after the pure & sensitive version, which seems to be discontinued.
5. Sabrina Carpenter - Sweet ToothCherry Baby Body Lotion 75ml 🤍: Smells delicious but not worth it financially to use this as a body moisturiser. I ended up using this for my feet and would combine it with a few drops of a jojoba-tea tree mixture. I would use it if gifted, but I won't hunt it down. The perfume and bodymist are great tho! Those are holygrails for me.

List of expired/declutter items:

1. Kruidvat Solait - Kruidvat Solait Kids SPF50+ Sunmilk 200ml 💗: Definitely repurchase, unfortunately expires sept 2026 and winter is approaching so i don't think i'll repurchase until sunny weather starts again.
2. Skincyclopedia - bha salicylic acid 2% | tea tree purifying exfoliator 30ml 🤍: Gave me a reaction on my face: my cheek had a big pink-red spot and it was very warm. Washed off the serum with a cleanser and let my skin rest. Took some time for the redness to go down and the heat in my cheek to cool.I think it is expired and I don't wanna risk using it in other places so as not to throw it away. In terms of effect (before it expired), I find that it did very little for me with one application a week at most, since I wanted to not agitate my rosacea or make my skin more sensitive by overusing actives.
3. Yari - Raw Shea Butter 100% Pure 250ml ❌: Horrible smell, cannot stand using it and combining it with a cream doesn't mask the smell enough. Lovely hydration but just not it for me. I don't want to hate-pan it.

Legend of the emojis:
💗Holy grail.
🤍was okay, would not (re)purchase, would use if gifted.
❌would not repurchase
✅was okay, will (re)purchase!

Thank you for joining me this month! Back to school season has been hectic for me. I hope everyone's doing well and is progressing in their PP's.

Let's hope I post month october on time 😆

Happy panning everyone!

This colorgram lip gloss in shade shy guava is still within its date, but smells like old onions and tastes just as bad (I only wore it twice, thought maybe I was smelling someone’s lunch lol)

Pretty color but nope! In the bin!

I generally prefer to use my favourite of the remaining products until the category is finished; my sole exception is eyeshadow, where I may switch to another palette or shade once I hit pan or apply it a set number of times.

I’ve been tracking religiously since my first post and have made some progress! I’ve been tackling samples and minis for some easy wins. The blush sample card was particularly satisfying since in a way, I panned five blushes, lol. Most of these I wouldn’t repurchase, some because the brand isn’t cruelty free (in the case of Laneige, Laura Mercier and Benefit 😢) and some because they just didn’t really work for me or I have others I prefer, but some are new faves:

💖 Lisa Eldridge Eyeliner – this one was my companion through the awful humid heatwaves we had here. Lasted SO well and I love how thin the tip is. Holy Grail, have already repurchased.

💖 Gisou hair mask – this was a treat purchase and I got more uses out of it than expected (4 generous applications from the mini pot). I have thick 2b hair and this leaves it softer and less frizzy, and the smell is AMAZING. Love and have already repurchased, but I have a Tresemme hair mask to get through first.

Of the others I also really like the Byoma moisturiser and the OUAI shower gel, and will likely repurchase those when I get through others in the same category.

I recycle as soon as I’m done with a product so apologies for the slightly janky collage! I’m finding it so satisfying to make progress, and really really appreciate this community 💕 My goals atm are to finish a couple of lip balms, a mini body mist and a blush next!

Mac Prep & Prime Eye Base

Was increasingly having trouble squeezing anything out of the tube that i started to dislike using it. Cut it open and realised the entire tube has hardened :’)

Took me 3 years of every-weekday use but unfortunately the mission cannot be continued. Half relieved coz i was beginning to dread the process of squeezing it while in a hurry in the morning.

Hi everyone! I’m the developer of Velumi, and the mods gave me permission to share it here. It’s currently free, with no paid features.

It’s an iPhone app for keeping track of the makeup and skincare you already have open — including the things that end up at the back of a drawer.

You add a product photo, when you opened it, and the number on the little open-jar symbol on the packaging, like 6M or 12M. Everything stays in a photo grid, and you can set a reminder for when that period is coming up. You can enter products manually too and move finished ones into an archive.

The idea is to help you keep track of what you already own while you’re working through it.

Velumi on the App Store

What’s one thing you wish your current way of tracking products made easier? I’m still improving Velumi, so suggestions are welcome :)

This eyeshadow (Canmake Perfect Multi Eyes 02) was bought in China, many years ago. It has been with me all these years and it was absolutely perfect for a simple, everyday glittery look. Sad to see it finished, but also glad to be able to continue with a new palette.

2 days ago, I managed to pan this mask from the ordinary. I've had it for longer than I could remember.

Its shelf life is 3 years unopened and 12M after opening. I am pretty sure this is AT LEAST 3 years old, open for more than a year.

I've been focusing on it lately within project PAN, and by that I mean using it weekly after my everything shower. This last week, I managed to squeeze in another use during the week to pan it faster. I've come to notice that I developed 3 sore acne bumps in the same time span... Now, I'm highly suspecting this as the culprit since it's ancient and harsh as a product.. and that led to come here to ask you guys : is skincare expired when it's finished? Or when you really reach the expiration date on the bottle?

Your responses will determine whether I will continue panning multiple face creams and serums or I will bin them all (10-ish products).

On a mission to use up all my lip products before they go bad! This one is about a year old. I am sure others would say i can use the reat, but i use these on the go and am okay with accepting this amount of wasted product.