Panning Pro Tag

Hello lovelies, I saw this tag floating around the Project Pan Community and I thought I would go ahead and do it. 

1) How did you learn about project panning? What was your first impression?

--> I had heard about project panning years ago and had once attempted it, however it was a complete fail and I got over it quickly enough. Then, a little less than a year ago, I started to see decluttering videos come up on Youtube and I became addicted to watching those. I noticed that a lot of the people who did decluttering also did project pans. I have been addicted ever since. 

2) What is the hardest thing you've panned? The easiest?

--> I think the easiest thing to pan for me has been eyeshadows, and I mean I only hit pan not completely use them up. Setting powders are also pretty easy for me to pan. The hardest is pretty much everything else. Lip products, with the exception of liners, are really hard for me because I like to rotate those, same goes for blush. Face primers also take me forever and a day to get through so I never end up using them completely in a project and I guess that makes them hard.

3) Have you attempted a Pan That Palette? Why or why not?

--> No, I think that having to stick to one palette for an entire year is way past my league of project panning. I don't know that I would be able to actually commit to it. I love rotating my palettes so often that it would be too difficult for me to be stuck using the same palette for a year. I am trying to hit pan on as many shadows as I can this year though and that is going amazing! 

4) Has panning affected your makeup buying habits? If so how?

--> I think that taking an inventory has helped more with my shopping habits than project panning. I do like to find products that I would be able to keep progress on and I reach for those more than something that I can't do that with. I guess I do think twice before I buy anything though. I mean that I always try to finish the products in my projects before I buy more for that specific category.

5) What do you plan to pan next?

--> I am always doing full project pan and I have several going on now, so I don't know how to answer this question. I love doing them roulette style because that way I have no idea of what I am going to be panning next.

6) Where do you get your panning inspiration/motivation?

--> From the panning community. It is such an amazing and supportive group of individuals. Seriously my favorite part of project panning is the community.

7) What is your favorite thing about the panning community?

--> Again, so supportive and motivational. It is such a positive environment and I didn't think that still existed on the internet. 

8) If you're currently project panning what one item is giving you the most trouble?

--> Like I said I am always project panning. Lip gloss. I have multiple lip glosses to get through and I swear they don't go anywhere no matter how much I apply.

9) How long do you plan to project pan? Do you see yourself stopping at any point?

--> I don't think that I ever want to stop panning. I love being challenged and trying to make sure I use products before it is time for another update and actually getting use out of my products. I think I will start to cut back a little and not be doing 5 projects at once like a crazy person. 

10) Would you recommend panning to others? How would you explain it?

I have attempted to explain my love of project panning to others and they just don't get it. I recommend it to very specific people who I know won't look at me like I am a crazy person when I start to talk about it. I guess I would explain it as just using the products that I have and not trying to go out and buy new makeup all the time when I have so much of it as it is. It is using the makeup you have before it goes bad so you aren't wasting your money. It is a challenge and it is frustrating as heck, but it's fun.

Read 5 by November 5th! Book Challenge

Hello lovelies, so I realize that the content of my blog has been lacking in all things bookish as of late, but I am changing that today! I have been seeing a challenge floating around in youtube to read 5 books by November 5th which is Bonfire Night. This is a cross between my love of books and my love of project panning, so of course I decided to join on in. I have chosen 6 books instead of 5 because I am not sure that I can really commit to some of these, but I really want to finish them. I have too many unfinished books on my shelf that I need to finish so I can enjoy all the other books that I have recently purchased and want to read. I have already started 4 of the 6 books, but I haven't gotten real far in any of them except one of them.

1. Morning Light by Catherine Anderson - This is going to be a reread for me. I went through a phase where all I would read was romance novels, but it has been a while and I am actually excited to get into this one again. A girl with visions, a rancher, and a lost boy make up the story and I am excited to rediscover this book.

2. A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert - This book follows 5 generations of women, starting with a suffragette in 1914 and ends post 9/11. I started this book a little while ago, and it seems like a really short read, however I haven't been able to really get into it just yet. 

3. Ciao Bella by Gina Buonaguro and Janice Kirk - I bought this book off of bookoutlet a little while ago because it seemed like a combination of some of my favorite things - historical fiction, Italy, and a love story. I haven'tread much of it, just the prologue, but I am curious to see where the story goes with this book.

4. to all the boys I've loved before by Jenny Han - A contemporary novel that came highly recommended by my sister who is obsessed with all things book (@areaderguide on instagram!). I am always up for easy reads and this seems like one. I have heard amazing things about Jenny Han's writing so I look forward to reading this, even though I have found that reading anything from the perspective of a teenager is not really what I am into anymore. I'll have to see how this goes though.

5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling - I started this and haven't gotten past chapter 2 because life keeps getting in the way. It is too heavy of a book for me to carry around, so I am limited on when I can reach for this. I do want to get through this one though because I really loved this movie and I want to finish the Harry Potter series if it is the last thing I do! 

6. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson - I started this book years ago and I am just shy of being half way through the book. I really enjoyed the first 2, but they are pretty slow paced to start and don't get to the point where I can't put them down until closer to the end of the story. I want to finish this and what better a time to pick it up again than when I am challenging myself to read it.

So, there are teh 6 novels that I hope to have at least 5 of read by November 5th. When I mentioned this to my sister she laughed in my face and said "It's going to take you that long to read 5 books?!" To that I say yes, it will because I am the worlds slowest reader, which I am okay with. However I also like to read multiple books at a time and I tend to not finish books because of it. I look forward to getting all these unfinished books read!! 

13 by Halloween Roulette Intro

Hello lovelies, because I am officially losing my mind, I decided to go ahead and do yet another project pan! It is safe to blame LaurenMaeBeauty on youtube for starting this challenge. I believe she may have started it last year, but I could be wrong. Regardless you should go check out her videos because she is amazing at project panning, her makeup is always inspiringly beautiful, and because she has awesome pink hair and pink eyebrows to match! 

This is the 13 by Halloween project pan in the roulette style. I have chosen the 13 categories and the products to go along with them. I am excited to see how this one if going to go since it is all makeup and I had less control over the products that I got to choose. I do think I have some achievable goals here though and I am not too worried, especially because every time I reach a goal or finish a product I am going to replace it with something else. 

1. Product from the Balm - Single shadow in Flirty from teh Nude Dude palette - I love this shadow and I am excited to see if I can finish my first shadow. 

2. Eye primer/base - Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Branded - I am really ready to be done with this cream shadow. I found that while this is a nice base, I actually prefer something that is either colorless or something that evens out my eyelid. 

3. Face Powder - Rimmel Stay Matte translucent powder - This is one of my favorite powders, but this one is fairly new and I don't think that I would be able to finish it all up so the goal is to just hit pan on it.

4. Bronzer - NYC Sunny - This is pretty thin in the pan, but I think that it will still take me the entire span of the project to get this completely used up.

5. High-end product - Mac Studio finish concealer - This only works for my skin tone in the summer so I want to use it up soon. It is a really old product and I will probably back-to-mac it once this project is over if I don't finish it. 

6. Tart product - Private Chateau from the holiday '14 palette - I am still on my quest to hit pan on as many shadows as I can this year so I am hopefully going to add this cream colored shadow to the list. 

7. Face Primer - Rmimel Stay Matte primer - I have only used this a handful of times so I am actually worried that I won't be able to get through this whole thing, but I am going to try! 

8. Maybelline product - Dream Lumi Touch - This is a newer product in my collection and I thought that this would be good to pair with the heaviness/darkness of the Mac concealer.

9. Product Almost Used Up - Urban Decay Beauty Balm - I really need to just get this out of my collection and I was so happy about the fact that I chose this category. I am starting at that second line.

10. Lip gloss - Tarte Cannes - I was surprised how easily I made it through the last lip gloss like this that I have so I thought I would keep moving them out. It is a pretty pink color with gold shimmer in it and I figured it would be a nice one to use during the summer.

11. Something New - NYC Get It All stick foundation - I was really interested when I saw this and I assume it is new to the line. I bought it and Used it only once, and when I rolled it up to make the marks for the project and I was kind of disappointed in how little product is actually in there. It will be interesting to see how many uses I will get out of this though. I mean for $3 if it works well and doesn't get completely used up after 2 weeks, I think I can enjoy this.

12. Highlighter - Benefit Watts Up - here we go again with this product. I have tried and failed to pan this in the past, but I am determined to be seen from outer space this summer! 

13. Free Choice - Pacifica eyeliner in Fringe - Another failed past project pan product. It isn't too much left so I think I can get this done by Oct. 31st.

I am pretty excited about all the products that I have here. I can't wait to get some products out of my collection and make serious progress on others. Let me know down below if you are joining in on this project!

A/N - I started this project on June 11th but haven't been able to get this post up. Hardly wore any makeup at all in the month of June, so there will be no update for June.

7 by Summer Solstice Roulette Finale

Hello lovelies, I have today the finale for my 7 by Summer Solstice project pan. I did this project in a roulette style. I didn't use up 7 products, but I did get to my goals on 4 of the products, so that is pretty exciting. I also made really good progress on products I wouldn't have reached for without this project and that is always a win in my book! 

Previously Finished Products:

Update 1 = N/A

Update 2 = hit pan on Maybelline Made for Mocha single

Update 3 - hit pan on Urban Decay Sin shadow

Finale: 2 more products!

Bronzer - Hit pan on half of NYC Sunny - After repressing this (photo is on my instagram: @beautyandbookmarks) this is pretty thin in this pan. Considering how much I used before I repressed and how much I used dof this pan, I would say that I got half of the original pan cleared. Excited that I got so much of this bronzer done and look forward to continue using it until it is all gone for my Makeup Use Up for the year.

Beautiful Packaging - Tarte lip  gloss in Paris from Away Oui Go holiday 2014 - I got up to the last line and I can't get any more product out on the brush. I am not pulling out the stopper because it is a mess and I don't really care for the color. I am really excited about the fact that I have moved out another lip gloss this year! 

Maybelline Product - Color Whisper in Pin Up Peach - I used about half of this product. I really thought I would be able to get through the whole thing, but I am terrible at panning lip products. I am happy with my progress though so it is no problem.

Lip Liner - Essence Satin Mauve - Not exactly half, but I did use a lot of the product. I love this lip liner so I am not too torn up about the fact that I haven't finished it, or reached my goal of half. This was basically brand new when I started this project if I remember correctly.

Black eyeliner - Coastal Scents xpress line - considering I was panning another black eyeliner in the beginning of this project, I feel like I made decent progress on this. Not my favorite liner, but I know I wouldn't have reached for it at all if not for this project.

Nude Lipstick - Wet n Wild 902C - Wasn't expecting huge amounts of progress on this, but I think I did pretty well with it. 

The Balm - Blush in Don't You Want Me from the Balm Jovi palette - I didn't take a picture of this because there is no way I would have been able to show you all the slight dent that is in the blush from using it daily since I added it into this project.

Well, there you have it. Not my most successful project in terms of getting things out of my collection, but definitely successful in that I used products that I have never used before. That is one of the reasons I love doing projects in roulette style, you never know what is going to be chosen! 

7 Summer Flings Update #1

Hello lovelies, here is the first update on my 7 Summer Flings project pan. There is some progress, not a lot, but I am confident that I will get through all of these by the end of summer! Haven't finished anything for this update though.

St. Ives Spray Lotion - This is a really rough estimate of where I am at because I can't see through the can, I guess this will be done whenever I get it done. It is quick and that is nice for the summer, but it doesn't provide much moisture for my skin.

Jergens Natural Glow lotion - Really I should have had this done since it is so small. I decided that I will be adding in all the samples of this same lotion that I have once I get through this one, That way it will be a slightly "bigger" product and not just a small lotion.

Taylor Swift Incredible Things Shower Gel - I put this in one of the showers in my house and used it for a week before I switched over to the other shower without taking this with me. I am not worried about finishing this up in time, I just need to remember to use it.

ELF Mineral Primer - This is another rough drawing og the lines because I didn't really feel like taking it apart again to figure out where I am at. Haven't been wearing much makeup since I started this project so I wasn't reaching for this that much, I decided that it works better without any makeup on top though, so I am just going to be using it as a regular sunscreen from not on.

BBW liplicious in Watermelon Sorbet - I used this for about a week and then forgot about it. It is an easy product to get through though so I am not too worried about using it by the end of the project.

Mario Badescu Facial Spray - Mae pretty good progress on this considering I had eye surgery and could spray this on my face for a week and a half while I was healing. The summer has been getting hotter though so I know that I will definitely be making more progress on this in upcoming updates.

Colour Pop Supershock Shadow in Amaze - Haven't used this at all, maybe swatched it.

So, there isn't much progress there, but I am confident in the next couple of months that I can get through all of these. Goals for next update is to see more progress on everything and maybe finish the shower gel and the jergens lotion. Let me know how your projects are going down below if you are doing any! 

A/N - Sorry about the terrible lighting, the sky was really overcast and I really wanted to get these photos taken. Also, if there are any spelling errors the whole eye surgery thing makes the screen pretty blurry and I am just hoping that everything is correct! 

Mini Life Update

Hello all, today I have a little update as to where the heck I've been pretty much for a month now. Well to start off, my sister-in-law came to town with my newest little nephew who I hadn't met yet, and he instantly took priority of all my free time. I also had a class the first week that she was here that was a week long intensive 3 credit course. We had to learn what typically takes a whole semester in 6 days, and it was a bit of a drive away so I was pretty much burnt out for a while from that. After that class, my sister deciided to come into town with her 4 kids, one of which was a niece that I hadn't met yet. Again family always takes priority.

Anyway, that was a fun I think it totaled 3 weeks between all th evisitors and the class. Safe to say that I was pretty much a zombie from that. But Ramadan came and I began to fast for the holy month. I have been tired from that, and I haven't been wearing any makeup so there was no progress on projects to actually show. But there was also the fact that i had PRK done, which is corrective eye surgery. This kept me off of the computer and my phone for a 4 days. Even now as I sit here typing I have to kind of close my eyes every few minutes because things get out of focus a bit still. Please excuse any typos to the fact that I can't really read the screen and I am just hoping that things are coming out spelled corrrectly, if not typos happen and I am sorry.

So that is kind of very quick and rough overview of where I've been over the past month. I have been updating my progress on project pans, and I have still been reading (or rather listening) to books. I have a couple of posts that I am going to try to get my sister to help me out with so that I can get some content up here. I started a new class, but I don't think it will take up any more time out of blogging. As soon as Ramadan ends in the next 2 weeks I will be trying, key word trying, to get at least 2 posts up a week. I have soem new things coming your way and I am excited about it so you should all be excited about it as well!

In the mean time, check out my last post:3 months of empties!

3 Months of Empties!

Hello lovelies, I have a long overdue empties post for you all today. It is quite a bit of products so I am hoping you will bear with me as I make my way through all of the mini product reviews for each of the products I have used up. I mean I used up the whole thing, I am sure I have some clear opinion on them, which is why watching or reading about empties is one of my favorites! Since it is so many products I am going to get right into it!

New York & Company - New York, New York perfume: This is one of my favorite perfumes. The last time I went to the store they didn't have it, which kind of worries me but I haven't actually gone searching for it. Hopefully I can find it again because it really is such an amazing scent and I used every last drop from this bottle.

Spring Valley Prenatal vitamins: I am not pregnant, however these are the best multivitamins since they don't make me incredibly sick the way that One a Day womens or Centrum Complete do. Also I noticed that while I was taking these, not specifically these ones but prenatal vitamins in general, that my hair grows a lot faster. 

 Real Techniques - Miracle Complexion Sponge: I have realized that there are some inconsistencies with these sponges. Some I get are really soft and others are really stiff, I will continue to purchase them since they are fairly inexpensive, but I wish they would sort that out.

Sally Hansen - Hard as Nails: This will forever be my favorite nail product. It truly strengthens and hardens my nails enough that they don't chip away they do when I try to use anything else.

Equate - Nail Polish Remover: I used this with a lot of dark polishes and now I can't use it without my fingers getting slightly stained. I have gone back to just using a cotton pad and standard polish remover. This was really fast and convenient though, especially for days when I didn't know what color I wanted to paint my nails and I tried out a bunch on my nails.

Soap & Glory Hand Food: This went off towards the end of the bottle. The smell of this product is really nice when you first get it, but you can't keep it open for too long because it changes and gets nasty smelling. Because of that I don't think I will purchase anymore, especially in this larger size.

Tony Moly - I'm Real skin purifying sheet mask: I loved this one! I was having a terrible time with my skin and I used this and it really calmed it down. It really did purify my skin. I need to go to Ulta and stock up on some more. I was so happy to find out that they are cheaper there than at Sephora. 

Neutrogena - Healthy Skin Boosters cleanser: This made my skin feel really clean, however it also made it feel really stripped. This would work only in the Summer for me, so I would consider purchasing it then when my skin is really oily. 

Be Fine - daily moisturizer: This was an okay moisturizer. Nothing spectacular about it, so I won't go searching to buy it in a full size.

dr. brandt - pores no more primer: I am officially decluttering this. It never worked for my skin, I wasn't a fan of the smell (which got worse the longer I used it!), and it broke down any foundation or bb cream that I put on top of it. I tried to power through it because I hate to waste product, but I just couldn't anymore with this.

NYC - Smooth Skin loose powder: I was just thinking the other night about how much I miss this product. I am definitely going to repurchase next time I go shopping because it is such a great setting powder and works well in my opinion for the baking method. I don't bake often so I don't see the point in spending a bunch of money on powder to do it with when this is so inexpensive.

Loreal - Infallible Pro Spray and Set: This was good. I don't really know if it extended the wear of my makeup, but I do know that it helped on days where I overpowdered my face. I like the Wet n Wild one and think it works in the same way so I am not sure I would repurchase this unless it was on sale because Loreal is getting ridiculous with their prices.

NYC - Liquid Eyeliner: I can always achieve a close to perfect wing with this eyeliner. The method of application is the easiest for me. Problem is the last time I used this, my eyes were watering like crazy and I don't know why. Its only a couple of dollars so I am going to get another one and see if there is any difference with it.

Told you it was a lot of products. The sephora bag I had all this in was getting overflowed and I realized that it has been a while. I am glad that I can recycle or toss these now though. There wer