Project 20 Pan items 15 - 17

Hello everyone!  Just a quick post tonight to share my thoughts on the latest three items I've finished for my Project 20 Pan.

Nivea Hydrocare Lip Balm; Palmer's Cocoa Butter Concentrated Cream; Covergirl Lashblast Length Mascara

Number 15 was a Covergirl Lashblast Length Mascara in Black Brown.  I usually alternate between a brown mascara for more natural looks and black if I go for something more dramatic/evening-ish.  And if I'm feeling lazy and skip eyeshadow altogether, I'll just use a brown mascara to darken my lashes a bit.  I quite liked this mascara - it gives good definition (a must for me) and really just makes my lashes darker and longer, without making them look much thicker.  This is pretty much my exact criteria for a good mascara (I don't like the look of really thick lashes on me) so I will be re-purchasing this for sure.

Item number 16 was another HG product of mine, Nivea's Hydrocare Lip Balm.  I don't have a backup of this so I was hoping it would last until the end of P20P.  At the moment I'm using a Palmer's Lip Butter to tide me over until I can repurchase a Nivea one.  It's very moisturising but without feeling sticky and I like the tube style packaging (more hygenic than dipping your finger into a pot and getting lip balm under your fingernails...yucky!), it doesn't have a fragrance (I dislike overpowering fruity fragrances lip balms) and I have been through more tubes of this than I can remember.  The only downside is it doesn't have SPF so I tend to use this during Winter and then in Summer at night, but switch to an SPF balm during the day in Summer.


Number 17 was a Palmer's Cocoa Butter Concentrated Cream.  I was using this as a hand cream after the Body Shop one ran out.  It is nice and moisturising, like most Palmer's products I have found, however can take a while to absorb into the skin and can leave a bit of greasy residue.  Also, the fragrance of this is quite strong.  I do generally like Palmer's products, but probably wouldn't repurchase this particular cream as I found the "concentrated" formula to be too greasy.  For a cocoa butter product, I would prefer something with a more "lotion" like consistency.

Not long to go now- only three items!!  Although, to fulfill the requirements of at least 10 makeup items, all three remaining items have to be makeup!  I'm almost finished another perfume though, and am quite a way away from finishing any makeup so perhaps I will end up doing project 21 or 22 pan.

Project 20 Pan update: items 10 - 14

Hi everyone,
apologies for the lack of posting, I've just been crazy busy this past week and haven't had a chance to write anything.  Since my last Project 20 Pan post I've used up a few more items.  I've already given my thoughts on the Tommy Hilfiger Dreaming perfume, Covergirl pressed powder (I finished another one of these) and the Burt's Bees lip balm, but I also finished a Trilogy Moisturiser and a NYX foundation.

L-R: Burt's Bees Lip Balm; Trilogy Moisturiser; NYX Liquid Foundation; Covergirl Pressed Powder; Tommy Hilfiger Dreaming Perfume

I received the Trilogy Vital Moisturising Cream as a promotional gift when Trilogy had some kind of competition last year to sign up for their email list.  I have really enjoyed using this and will definitely purchase again, once I go through the two unopened moisturisers I have in my stash. It's a really light cream that blends and absorbs in perfectly without feeling greasy or sticky.  I used this morning and night and it gave my skin a really nice glow (I think this is from the Rosehip as I've heard that Rosehip oil is great for adding a nice glow to your skin).  I also really liked the fragrance, it was a nice fresh, kind of earthy fragrance that was not too overpowering (earthy makes is sound like dirt, haha!  I really don't know how else to describe it, but it wasn't a dirt smell!).  My only criticism would be the packaging - I think a squeezable tube is more hygenic than a jar you dip your fingers in everyday.  Obviously I wash my hands first, but I think a tube is better packaging than a jar.

The next product was a NYX The Makeup Liquid Foundation.  This is probably my HG foundation as it is the only affordable foundation I have been able to find in a shade light enough for my skin.  This is, in fact, a teeny bit too light (so I mix it 2 parts to 1 with a Bourjois foundation that is slightly too dark for me), which is a world first for "drugstore" foundations.  Usually I try the lightest shade in a drugstore foundation, generally labeled as "porcelain" or "vanilla", and what does it look like on my pale skin? Orange!!  I would say Maybelline is probably the worst offender in this department. Covergirl does have some ok lighter shades, as does Revlon.  But I don't even bother trying Maybelline, L'Oreal or Max Factor foundations anymore.  Anyway, back to the NYX foundation, it is a great colour match for me, which is really the most important thing for me.  It gives good coverage though and doesn't break me out or make my oily or anything like that.  I would highly recommend that any fair skinned gals like me try this out if you are sick of budget level foundations making you look like an oopma loompa.

For any Melbournites looking for the NYX foundation, it is stocked at Groove accessories for around $20 or so, but the cheapest place I have found in Melbourne is at the shopping center above Southern Cross (aka Spencer St) station.  Between Blockout and the perfume outlet store (called Cosmetics Fragrance Direct or something like that), there is a clothing store which looks like one of those temporary outlet places and on the counter they have a display of various NYX products.  They sell the foundation for $5.  I haven't been to Southern Cross for a while though, so I can't be 100% certain that this store is still there, because it did look kind of temporary.

So this brings my Project 20 Pan total to 14 which means I only have six more items to go.  Although I did promise myself that I would finish at least 10 makeup items and thus far I have only finished six, so depending on what the next six items are, I may have to make it a Project 21 or 22 Pan.  Hopefully I'll be finished sometime early in the new year.  I already have a list as long as my arm of things I want to buy, haha!

Thanks for reading!!

Favourite Lip Products

Hello everyone!

Today I'll be sharing with you some of my favourite lip products!  I'm honestly not a big wearer of lipstick, I just don't really like the feeling of having something sticky on my lips.  Plus I hate having to reapply it all the time.  Having said that, I have made an effort this year to try to appreciate lip products more and use them more often in my daily routine.  I do use lip balm obsessively though, haha!

So here are my favourite products:

Lipglosses and lipsticks:

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipglosses and Revlon Colourburst Lipsticks

Tinted Lip Balms/"Sheer" Lip colours:

Revlon Beyond Protective Liptint, The Body Shop Sheer Lip Colours and Nivea Hydro Care Lip Balm

Thoughts and swatches:

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipglosses - I generally don't wear gloss as I just don't like the sticky feeling, however these are not too bad.  They are quite pigmented so you only need a thin layer and they don't have that awful grainy feeling that some glosses do.  Glossy Rose is a deep pink with gold shimmer, Peach Petal is a a light peachy pink creme.

Left: Glossy Rose; Right: Peach Petal

Revlon Colourburst Lipsticks - there was a lot of hype surrounding these when they were first released and I think it is well deserved.  They have a nice texture, glide on smoothly and evenly and come in a good range of colours.  They are at the pricier end of "drugstore" lipsticks, but if you can get them on a buy one get one free deal they are good value.  Smooth Nude is a creamy nude colour which I like to use to town down the natural pigmentation of my lips without getting that "concealer lips" look.  Blush, for me, is a nice "my lips but better" colour - a neutral pink with a hint of frost.  Mauve is a purply blue toned pink.  This is about as extreme as I go with lip colours (I've never been able to rock a bright red lip).  If I wear Mauve, I would tend to keep the rest of my face fairly plain.  Peach is a nice bright coraly pink which will be perfect for summer.

Left to right: Smooth Nude, Mauve, Blush, Peach

Top to bottom: Smooth Nude, Mauve, Blush, Peach

Peach looks quite orange swatched on the skin, I think it looks nicer on the lips.  It goes nicely with the Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Peach Petal.

Revlon Colourburst Lipstick in Peach

Revlon Colourburst Lipstick in Peach with Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Peach Petal over the top

Revlon Colourburst Lipstick in Mauve

Tinted Lip Balms:

Revlon Beyond Natural Protective Liptint - these are discontinued which is a shame because I think they are really nice.  A moisturising lip balm with a sheer colour pigmentation and light berry fragrance.  These are perfect for days when you don't want a sticky feeling on your lips or would prefer a light wash of colour without that heavy "lipstick" look.  They are also SPF 15+!  I bought these at Priceline on sale for $5 each after they were discontinued but you may still be able to find them on eBay or similar.

Left to right: Revlon Beyond Natural Protective Liptint in Pink, Rosy, Nude and Berry

Top to bottom: Revlon Beyond Natural Protective Liptint in Pink, Rosy, Nude and Berry

Revlon Beyond Natural Protective Liptint in Nude

Revlon Beyond Natural Protective Liptint in Berry

As you can see from the lip swatches, these are quite sheer, but you can build the colour if you prefer a more solid colour.

The Body Shop Sheer Lipcolours - these are also discontinued, I think they have been replaced by the new Delipscious Sheer Lip Shines, which I will probably look into when my spending ban finishes.  The sheer lip colours are, like the Revlon Liptints, great for getting a nice sheer wash of colour and a bit of shine onto your lips without the stickyness and heaviness of lipstick.  They also have a berry scent.  I'm not sure of the names of these colours, but the numbers are 01, 02 and 04.  They do look quite dark in the tube (especially 04) but as you'll see in the swatches, the colour goes on quite sheer so they can still give quite a natural look, or be built up for a more dramatic look as you prefer.  I also sometimes wear these like a gloss over lipstick as they do have quite a nice shine to them.

The Body Shop Sheer Lip Colours in 01, 02 and 04

Top to bottom: 01, 02, 04

This is 04 swatched on the lips - as you can see, it's not as dark as it looks in the tube.

The Body Shop Sheer Lip Colour in 04

And finally, I threw in my HG lip balm Nivea Hydro Care just because I love it so much haha! No swatch of this because it's just ordinary old lip balm.

Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments section what your favourite lip products are!

Burt's Bees Sun Protecting Lip Balm

I received this a while ago when Burt's Bees had a promotion that if you signed up to their mailing list you got a free lip balm.  I wasn't that impressed to begin with as it had an odd grainy texture (similar to the Nivea Light Kiss balm I referred to previously).  I also had a bit of an accident which resulted in the end becoming all smooshed.

It did feel quite moisturing though and it is nicely scented (passionfruit!! yummy!!) so I decided to see if I could fix the grainy texture by remelting it.  It seems to have worked.  Obviously as this balm is in tube form, you need a suitable container to melt it in.  I just washed out the empty pot from the Nivea balm I have just finished.

Hmm, not sure why this is sideways....

It is only SPF 8 though, so I will probably switch to something with a higher SPF in Summer.

Project 20 Pan

My interest in makeup and perfume is relatively recent (last 2-3 years) and I have amassed a reasonable collection in this amount of time.  I’d rather not think about how much I’ve spent haha!  I think in the beginning I was very “noob” about it and tended to go for quantity rather than quality.  Also, as I was very new to makeup, I tended to buy a lot of different brands just to try them out.  Now, I’d rather narrow down my collection to a smaller amount of products which I really enjoy using and use on a regular basis.  Also, I think my tastes, especially in eye makeup, have changed.  I used to wear a lot of colour and now I’m much more into more natural looks.  So some of the products which I have now don’t really suit me any more.  I’ll still probably purchase mostly “drugstore” brands (e.g. Revlon, Maybelline, Covergirl etc) as I’m still at uni and on a very limited budget, but I would like to save up for a few “splurge” type purchases as well.  Also, being in Australia, even brands like L’Oreal and Revlon get expensive (relative to my teeny-tiny uni student income).  “High end” brands (department store brands like MAC etc.) are just hideously expensive (unless purchased over the net – hooray strong Aussie dollar!)

I’ve gotten rid of a lot of things through the Vogue Forum Free for All thread (I like the idea of things I don’t want finding a new home rather than me just throwing them in the bin).  Perhaps the next time I do a cull I will do some kind of blog give away.

As a way for me to curb my spending on makeup, and also use up some products that have been lying around for a long time, I’ve decided to undertake Project 20 Pan (inspired by the Project 10 Pan, which I believe was coined by lollipop26 but has since been repeated in some shape or form by just about every beauty blogger).  So I am committing to not buying any new products until I have used up 20 items which are currently in my collection.  I’ve decided that the items may include makeup, perfume, nail polish and skincare, but not things like shampoo/conditioner, soap and face wipes etc (as I have seen on some blogs....seriously, what next? Toilet paper??)  The only exceptions will be if I completely run out of something (I think I may possibly run out of lip balm, but that’s not a very expensive item anyway).

I’m hoping that as well as helping to downsize my collection, this spending ban might also help me curb my addiction to buying new things (and save a bit of $$ as well).

So, after all that, what have I used up so far?

1.  Natio Ageless Brightening Eyecream

2. Vera Wang Princess Perfume

3. Nivea Light Kiss lip balm

My thoughts on these products:

Natio Eyecream – I really liked this and will probably re-purchase after I’ve finished P20P.  It has tiny light reflecting particles, kind of like glitter, but not actually glitter.  So it gives a kind of radiant look without making you look like a disco ball.

Princess Perfume – I love this perfume.  I bought it in a 30ml to use as my “handbag perfume” and I get a lot of compliments on it.  I bought a 100ml as a backup and am going to try to decant it into the 30ml bottle so I can keep it in my handbag (I don’t fancy lugging around a 100ml bottle of perfume in my handbag).  I would really recommend this fragrance, and best of all, it’s pretty cheap!  If you can get it on sale (at Priceline or My Chemist etc.) it’s usually around $30 or 30ml or $50 for 50ml.

Nivea Light Kiss – as I mentioned in the tag questionnaire, I didn’t really like this.  I think I bought it because it was on special at Priceline for like $1 or something.  Anyway, I’m not a huge fan of pot lip balms as I think they’re not very hygienic and you always get balm under your fingernails – gross!  Also, this seemed to separate after a few days of using it and had these funny little grains (of wax, I think) in it.  Remelting in the microwave fixed it, but I had to keep remelting it every week or so.  I definitely wouldn’t be repurchasing this (I think it might even be discontinued anyway).

The empties:

I cut the Natio Eyecream tube in half to get the dregs out of it - this is a great idea for making any products in tubes last a little bit longer.  I usually find I can get at least another week's worth of use out of things by cutting them open. 

Phew, that was a long post.  Thanks for reading (if anyone made it all the way to the end haha!)