Project 20 Pan - finally completed!!!

Hi everyone!

I'm proud to announce that I have finished my 10th and final makeup item, which means I have finished my Project 20 Pan!  I haven't purchased a single item of makeup, skincare, perfume or nail polish for around six months now, and it feels good to have used up a few things that were lying around.

Project 20 Pan empties

I kept most of the empty containers just because I thought it would be fun to lay them all out together at the end (although I must've chucked out a few by mistake because there are only 18 or 19 in that picture).

Apart from a few things I have on my wishlist at the moment, I'd like to stay on the "no spend" bandwagon for the most part and from now on only purchase things to replace something that's been finished or something that is completely different from anything I already own.  In addition to trying to save for a small holiday at the end of this year (don't know where yet), I'm also trying to make an effort to be conscious of the impact that my consumption of goods has on the environment and other people (i.e. the people who make the goods that I consume).

This is getting a bit off-topic, but I read the book Affluenza by Clive Hamilton last year and the book Spent: Memoirs of a Shopping Addict by Avis Cardella earlier this year, in attempt to curb my shopping and spending habits.  I wouldn't consider myself a shopping addict by any stretch, but I am, like most women my age probably, guilty of the occasional impulse purchase and sometimes spending more than I should.  So this year, I'll try my best to reduce my shopping which will hopefully have two positive outcomes: I should be able to save more and hopefully afford a holiday at the end of the year and I will be able to feel better about the impact my lifestyle has on others.

So, the last item I used up was a Bourjois Mineral Radiance Pressed Powder which I was just using to set my foundation.  It was ok, although like all Bourjois Powders, the shade is very pink.  It also has that trademark "old lady makeup" smell which all Bourjois powder products seem to have.  I didn't really find that it gave my skin any kind of radiance (I'm still not really sold on the whole mineral makeup craze), but it was ok as a setting powder.  Having said that, I probably wouldn't repurchase, mostly because I dislike the heavy fragrance.

Bourjois Mineral Radiance Pressed Powder

Since finishing a few days ago, I actually haven't bought anything new.  I do have my eye on a few lip products though (I'm really keen to try the Body Shop Delipscious lipsticks and I might purchase a few Revlon lippies on eBay as well, as that seems to be the cheapest way to go), so stay tuned for some new purchases in the hopefully not too distant future!

Thanks for reading!

Project 20 Pan: items 18 - 20

Hi everyone!

Today I'll be sharing my thoughts on items 18 - 20 of my project 20 pan.  Although I have finished 20 items, I'm not considering myself officially done yet, as I did say that I wanted to finish ten makeup items as part of the 20 and so far I've only finished nine.

L-R: YSL Young Sexy Lovely perfume; Red Earth Mattifying Makeup Base; Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation

Number 18 was a perfume, YSL's Young Sexy Lovely.  This has been discontinued so it was a bit sad to finish it, although I'm certain you can still get it at Priceline and maybe MyChemist or similar (plus I'm sure I could find it online as well).  I had this in my handbag as my everyday fragrance.  It's a nice light floral fragrance, and I get quite a strong citrus-y note from this as well.

The next product I finished was a primer, Red Earth's Mattifying Makeup Base.  I swatched this in my daily face routine post.  It's a silicon based primer so great for absorbing any oiliness which I sometimes get throughout the day.  I found this helped me achieve a matte finish which stayed in place for a reasonable amount of time (say 6-8 hours, if I wasn't doing anything too sweaty).  I think this has been discontinued though as Red Earth is not stocked in Priceline anymore (to my knowledge) and I haven't seen it elsewhere since it was discontinued from Priceline.

My 20th item was a Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation.  This was the lightest shade it comes in (light vanilla) and still way too dark for me, so I mixed this with my NYX foundation which is super light.  Apart from the limited colour range for pale skinned people like myself, I quite like this.  It has a fresh, fruity fragrance (but not too overpowering), blends quite nicely and doesn't feel heavy or cakey.  It apparently contains "Radiance Boosting Fruit Therapy" whatever that means....sounds like a bit of a gimmick to me, haha!  But overall, I quite liked this (apart from it being too dark).

For my final item(s), I am currently chippping away at a Revlon eyeliner and a Revlon lipgloss.  Hopefully I'll be finished by the end of February (which will mean a total of around six months without any new purchases).

Revlon lipgloss; Revlon eyeliner

Thanks for reading!

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!!

Project 20 Pan items 6 - 9

Hi everyone,

In the past few weeks I have finished off a few more items for my Project 20 Pan.

Covergirl Olay Primer, Ralph Lauren Romance Perfume, Maybelline Coversitck Concealer and The Body Shop Touche Lumiere Concealer

Covergirl Olay Primer - this is a silicone based primer and gives a good matte surface for your makeup.  I really liked this and will repurchase after P20P is over, however, priced at around $25, this is one of the pricier "drugstore" primers so I would tend to wait until this goes on sale.  Also, this primer is good for absorbing oil from your skin throughout the day to prevent your foundation from sliding off, however it was not the most moisturing of products (I use a moisturiser underneath) so I would probably not recommend this for people with dry skin.  Don't be alarmed by the opaque, completely white colour of this, it blends in nicely and won't make you look like a geisha!

Ralph Lauren Romance Perfume - I gave my thoughts on this in my Perfume Collection post so I won't bore you by repeating myself!

Maybelline Coverstick Concealer - this product was ok, nothing special but does what it is supposed to do.  Sometimes I like to use a cream concealer (as opposed to liquid) on days when I have more to hide (e.g. pimples, very dark undereye circles etc).  I like the idea of a stick as I think it is probably a little more hygenic than a pot that you stick your finger in everyday.

The Body Shop Touche Lumiere - I like to think of this as a rip-off of Touche Eclat (which I purchased earlier this year, but am yet to try out).  It's a liquid undereye concealer in one of those automatic twisty brush type contraptions.  This has a peachy orange tone which is good for cancelling out the blue/purple tones of undereye circles, which I often have.  I'm still searching for the perfect thing to cover them and I have my eye on a few products from Benefit, once P20P is done...although I think the perfect solution would probably be to get more sleep, but I don't have time for this!  Touche Lumiere has good pigmentation and covers discolouration quite well.  As far as I'm aware, this product has been discontinued.

I'm now almost halfway though, how exciting!!  I have been tempted a few times, but so far I have managed to resist.  A few items thus far have been skincare, perfume and lip balm.  It was part of my original plan to include these, however I think I will add a clause to my Project 20 Pan.  As I think that makeup items are really what I have too much of, I have decided that as part of the 20 items which I use up, a minimum of 10 items must be makeup items.

Thanks for reading!!

Project 20 Pan items 4 + 5

The fourth and fifth items I have used up for my project 20 pan were a Covergirl pressed powder and a Body Shop Body Butter.

No. 4 & 5 empties.

As I’ve mentioned I’m a uni student on a pretty tight budget so I tend to purchase most of my makeup items from places like Target, Priceline etc.  A major downside of this is that the range of shades is usually quite limited (compared to some department store brands), especially for a fair skinned person like me.  This Covergirl pressed powder is one of the only powders thus far that I have found at Priceline that comes in a shade light enough.  I think Maybelline used to have a shade in the DreamMatte powder that was really light but I haven’t been able to find it recently so perhaps it was discontinued.  I also have a Bourjois mineral pressed powder to try out as well, which looks promising.  Apart from being a good match for my skin tone, I found the Covergirl powder to be really neither here nor there.  I just use it for setting my liquid foundation.  My major criticism is the smell – it’s really heavily fragranced, but an “old lady makeup” smell, if you know what I mean.  I’ve noticed the packaging of this has changed since I bought it so perhaps they have changed the formula as well and gotten rid of the smell– I hope so, because I will probably repurchase this after P20P is finished.

The Body Shop Body Butter was in the flavour (or fragrance, seeing as you’re not supposed to eat them!) Brazil Nut.  I used this as a hand cream as it was quite a small tub and would probably last very long if I used it over my whole body.  I actually quite like this kind of container for a hand cream as I can just chuck it in my handbag without worrying about a tube exploding or leaking all over the inside of my bag, which has happened to me before, and it is such a mess to clean up!  It is really moisturising and leaves my hands nice and smooth.  I have problems with dry skin on my hands due to using alcohol based hand sanitisers at work, which are very drying, but this really does the trick!  The other thing which I really like about this product is the smell – it’s a sweet, nutty fragrance which is nice and subtle and not overpowering – there is nothing worse than using a overwhelmingly fragranced hand cream which completely overpowers the perfume you are wearing.  I plan on purchasing another Body Shop Body Butter to replace this once I’ve finished the Palmer’s cream that I have moved onto, but I think I might try one of the other fragrances just for a change.  Let me know if you have any recommendations!

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: Australis Liquid Gold

Today's nail polish is Liquid Gold by Australis.  The bottle boasts "Best Formula Ever!" and "Streak Free".  I'm not 100% sure I agree with this - it went on quite gluggy and streaky.  It dried a little better but I think you can still see the brush streaks.  I would describe this as a beige toned gold, rather than a yellow, brassy gold, which is perfect for me as I'm not really a fan of yellow toned gold colours.

Pictures:

With flash - I think this pic looks more yellow than it is in real life.

Without flash (it's getting dark outside so I couldn't get a decent pic, sorry) - this one's really blurry but I think it this is closer to how the colour appears in person.

 Also, good news, another Project 20 Pan item has bitten the dust - a Body Shop Body Butter.  I will include pics and thoughts on this in my next post as my camera died after taking the pictures of my nails. This brings the running total to five items which I means I am one quarter of the way through!

Thanks for reading!

Perfume Wishlist + P20P update

Let me start by saying I love perfume!  In the past 1-2 years I have built up quite a collection, and I plan to do an overview of my collection in the near future (i.e. after exams), but for now, here are a few on my current wishlist....

Viktor and Rolf Eau Mega

Lancome Tresor In Love

Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne

Ralph Lauren Romance Always Yours

Dior Miss Dior Cherie L'eau

Images sourced from FragranceNet.com

Obviously these are planned purchases for a long way down the track, when I have finished off a few of my current perfumes.

In other news, yesterday, I finished product no. 4 of my Project 20 Pan, only 16 to go!  No 4. was a Covergirl pressed powder.

Have a great weekend!

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!)