2021 Challenge-"Project Pan" (use it up) - YouLookFab Forum

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2021 Challenge-"Project Pan" (use it up)

Anonymous

For 2021, I'd like to move more towards minimalism/simplicity so will have a few challenges. The first is use it up- aka "project pan." Basically using up the makeup/toiletry stash before buying more. Everyone knows the "new things" are much more exciting and the older ones sit unused.

The inspiration:
https://itsaimeerebecca.com/pr.....eup-hoard/

My main focus: hand lotions (have at least 4 in the house), eyeshadows (my "magpie makeup" from early this year). In my defense, the lotions are partially DHs fault, cause Trader Joes always has new ones...
So...I'm not buying new unless things are: expired or used up daily use things, or I have a skin reaction.

Historical context- aka, what Not to do. My grandparents came with basically nothing from Brazil, but they made up for it when they came here! One example was soaps. If they had a coupon, they'd buy more. As a kid, I would count them. There were probably 20 left when they passed.
My house (and bathrooms) are probably a third the size theirs were. Time to quit now!

Anyone want to join me?

ETA- here's a start...
3 of the lotions: lavendar (about a third left), pine, and unscented. The 4th is a little new ginger one that I bought for car, but DH liked and wanted for house too...This will be a yearly project. Also have about 2/3 of a big bottle of aloe vera too. That would be fine, except I bought a small bottle of pure aloe that I like more.
2 of the eyeshadows- just samples so should be able to finish them off in a month.

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57 replies

Latest reply was from

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

This is a great idea and I’ll join you. I’m usually pretty good with makeup and facial skin care but I’ve got a lot of body lotions, hairsprays, etc, that I should either use or toss/donate.

Anonymous

Yay- thanks Laura

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Go for it! I can keep powder eyeshadows and blushes (I use them interchangeably) for a long time without any eye trouble. For pencils, it helps to sharpen them at the first sign of eye irritation.

unfrumped

Veteran

Good luck! This is an area where KonMari can actually work, I think, because it's not too painful to round up all the various lotions in the house and take stock-more for knowing how much, what sizes so can re-distribute--as you say, ones for car, purse, bedside and so on.

You don't have to throw ones away if you really want to use them (and especially because at some level, lotions can be just a "basic," where you need volume to slather on legs, etc and it doesn't have to be All That), but I've found that some of the ones that I've collected (hoarded) are not satisfactory, either too greasy and I tend not to use it, or turns out I really don't like the scent, so these are good candidates for chucking.
If they are unopened and including sample sizes and hotel versions, I try to direct to projects like toiletry boxes for those in need.

slim cat

Veteran

I'm with you on lotions, hand creams and some make up ( lipstick, eye liners...). I'm still using my old set of eye shadows from a few years ago but only as a brow enhancer.

Runcarla

Veteran

I commend you on embarking on a worthy project. I whittled down my toiletries collection a couple of years ago. It took more than a year to get through all the lotion, shampoo, and cream rinse I had amassed. Now I’m one in/one out.

Helena

Veteran

I'm in! I have more than plenty to use and enjoy this year without buying more, so this is a good one for me; great idea suntiger!!

rachylou

Veteran

Well, you see that bottle to the left of the tv, under the dangling antenna cable, above the pink hamper which is filled with cloth and has my iron thrown on top, which is how I cleared the table for the tree? That is from LAST Christmas and has not moved since then. It’s hipster liquid soap, handcrafted *like* from 100 carefully harvested Cascade Mountain Range Pine Needles *like* by people in $500 dungarees and retro sneakers. It was on my wishlist and my brother got it for me. I MUST use it before covid is over and I see my brother again so he doesn’t yell at me!! I mean, you should hear how he interrogates me about the cookbooks I ask for... eek!!!!

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Minaminu

Veteran

this year, I started a skincare budget to help me reduce double purchases. Lotions are tough, it takes a long time to finish them. Shampoo are also tricky, I have been trying to finish a 500ml bottle since last january!

Joy

Veteran

I will join you on using up cream rinse (3) and hand lotion samples. I will also work on using fragrance and am almost done with a violette fragrance from France. This time of year I should switch to something more spicy.
This is a good idea. I had many gifted bars of soap that have been getting used up with all the hand washing.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I feel like I have already been doing this for years! I kept acquiring hand and body lotions etc in goody bags from Fashion Weekends or as gifts from clients or suppliers. This year I used up some beauty face masks in our first lockdown, and when I went to open one fancy bottle of moisturiser it smelt bad and was a weird texture, I had obviously kept it too long. And I am still using a bottle of shampoo that DD1 left behind when she went to live in the US July 2019!

kkards

Veteran

I’ve actually been trying to convince myself to do the opposite. I’ve got some tubes and tubs of conditioner and hand creams that I don’t like, but feel i need to use up, and so i use what i like for a week or so, then pull out what I don’t like, use it for a couple of days, get annoyed, pull out what i like again, then repeat....its been going on for years...but i can’t seem to throw out 1/2 used potions.

Kate

Veteran

I’m in! I have a closet stuffed with toiletries that is in desperate need of sorting out. Once I know what I have I can make decisions—keep, give-away, or chuck. It’ll be great to enter the New Year with an organized closet! Then I can move on to the other ones.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I feel uneasy if I don’t have a new bottle of *whatever* when my current one is down below half full. I don’t experiment a lot with new products, and when I do — or I get a gift of a product and it’s not really my favorite, I usually end up putting it in the guest bath. Sooo, the guest bath collection gets a little out of control sometimes. It’s not bad now because we renovated that room a year and a half ago and I tossed a lot of stuff then.

I also cleaned out a lot of expired stuff from our bathroom last month, and my “back stock” are products I know and use. I tossed a bunch of samples and stuff that seemed old, and I put some unopened things in a donation bag.

I cleaned out my makeup drawer a month or so ago, and I have more than I need but I’m keeping items that have a long shelf life and will get used in the “after times.” I have nice Mac eyeshadows that are literally years old, but they’re still in excellent condition and not a thing wrong with them. But I use them so sparingly they’ll last me a lifetime. I have extras in unopened packages of my mascara, tinted moisturizer, and eyebrow pencil because I stocked up last spring.

So I am not spending money on these products this year unless it’s a direct replacement — shampoo, body lotion, hand cream, face moisturizer, and body wash are the most likely to be purchased, and I’m sticking with my current favorites. I do have some extra hand creams that were gifts, and I’ll use them up before buying any new.

LaPed

Veteran

I jumped on the "use it up" bandwagon early in 2020 and still have extras of almost everything. DH ran out of deodorant about midway through the year, and we'll be out of bar shampoo soon. Debating whether to replenish the bars, or use up the old bottle shampoo dregs first. It's interesting to see what you actually go through quickly and what languishes. I know I use a lot more lotion and lip balm in the winter, and more sunscreen in the summer.

It'll be a long time before I buy makeup again. I feel like I finally have my colours dialled in, with products I love, but have little opportunity to wear any of it these days! Getting lippie and bronzer all over the inside of a mask is gross.

The next thing I need to tackle is household cleaners. Somehow I ended up with like half a dozen canisters of Bon Ami, yet I'm completely out of CLR... Sparkling sinks with plugged-up faucets.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

When we moved, I gave partially-used bottles of lotion, shampoo, etc to panhandlers, because I didn't know what else to do with it other than toss it in the trash. That's frequently my solution for things that can't be donated but that I don't want to trash, most recently extra cupcakes I'd made for my son's birthday.

SarahD8

Veteran

A great solution for getting rid of opened products that you don’t care for is freecycle or your local buy nothing group. I’m not much of an experimenter when it comes to personal care products (I’m very sensitive to scents so I tend to identify a low-scent or fragrance free option and then stick with it!) but when I do find myself with something I’ve tried and won’t enjoy using up I just pass it right along!

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I have never heard of a panhandler until this minute? I had to Google it. We call those beggars here.
Is that something to do with why you have called this “project pan”, Suntiger? What does that even mean?

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Sorry, should have looked at your original link. See the bottom of the container ( “pan”), correct?

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Also, I have been using up old makeup since I was 28 years old, at which point my sister was 23 and emigrated to the UK leaving behind blusher and moisturiser and cleanser. It took years to use her stash. I am currently using up a DD’s cast-off blusher and the other DD’s left-behind shampoo. Blame the Depression-era older parents. My younger sister had no truck with their thrifty ways but I did. This has been both a blessing *and* a curse.

madeline

Veteran

I’m in on the “use it up” project.
I will gather all my hand creams, moisturizers, soaps and hair care products and they will probably fill 2 size 10 shoeboxes! I have a major problem with buying too many drugstore items like these! Wish me luck.

Anonymous

Quick pop in, will respond more tomorrow! Yes, it means finishing the product down to the bottom of the pan. Nothing I have is super old, no more than a year and a half- and nothing I dislike. Those things were already tossed earlier this year. I'm just trying to go as low waste as I can, and learn a just how long these things will actually last.

Yay to all who want to join me, and those who don't want or need to right now too

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

Wonderful idea! I actually have a lot of lotions & potions that were gifted to me/ part of a deal I didn't want (e.g. when I buy my suncream, sometimes there's a random shampoo brand attached to it lol).

I have sensitive skin & curly hair, so most of these items have never been used. Am thinking of donating them to a shelter, since I hear those & socks are often things homeless folk lack but people overlook when donating.

For the other items I've opened to try, but ended up not being for me, I'm unsure what to do with them. They're currently in a bag, awaiting their fate But if you know the items work for you, then the empty pan challenge is great!

bella

(website)

Veteran

I did this a few years ago, and since then it is strictly one-in-one-out in my house. Despite this, I had to do another clean out when we moved this summer, where I had to rehome some nice but barely used or unopened products which don't fit my current regimen. A month or so ago, Ms. Maven reminded me that I should clean out my makeup bag, and I did that, too. I chucked some mascaras and eyeliners. I actually realized that the makeup bag itself was super old and stained and beyond saving. I got a nice, clean bag, as well along with two new eyeliners and a tube of black mascara, which I now use regularly. I am on top of my toiletries game!

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I ended up chucking one old mascara too, after Ms Maven’s post about old makeup! I decided it really was quite old, probably years, and as recommended in that post I smelt it and it didn’t smell good. I used a voucher I had to buy a new one and have kept the receipt so I know when it is from!

cat2

Veteran

I have been doing this one category at a time so I don’t feel overwhelmed. I am currently working through the travel size lotions and the husband is using up the travel size body washes. Next, I will tackle a bunch of samples of tinted moisturizer! I hope to find one I really like and just order it. The samples of foundation did yield a single winner that I ordered.

Anonymous

Now I'm thinking I should give my little travel size toothpastes to the guy that sleeps in the park- if they're not expired. I used to leave those things at social services, but they're still not open to the public.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

When I was going into the city regularly, I’d take a bag of socks, toiletries, cereal bars, and sometimes unwanted clothing that was still wearable but not pristine (old t-shirts, sweaters, coats, gloves), and give them to some of the homeless population who regularly look for handouts at traffic lights. I’ve apparently made someone’s day a few times with these things. Shelters probably take donations now too, but check with them first.

cat2

Veteran

There are also some options to repurpose make up and skincare that did not work. I use drops of not quite right foundation to take the chalky edge off of untinted sunscreen, and the brushes from mascara fails make good brow brushes. Shampoo and cleanser fails are great for cleaning hair brushes and makeup brushes. I sure others have hacks as well.

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