We've entered 2019 which means my yearlong eyeshadow panning project is finally over! I posted my intro for this project back in March of last year and its crazy to me that I'm only just rounding this up. I'd never tried to pan any eyeshadows before and I knew it would be a challenge, but I also knew I needed to get my eyeshadow palette collection under control. I had a habit of buying more than I had room for and more than could ever use and trying to use up these shadows has been a wake up call, because it takes so damn long to even use up one entire eyeshadow.
I said in my intro that every time I hit pan on a shadow I would put 50p in a jar and I'd put £1.00 in when I finished one, I've currently got £13.00 in that jar. I had wanted this to be my entire eyeshadow budget, so I wouldn't spend more than what I have in the jar on palettes... I mean that definitely didn't happen! I love experimenting with eyeshadow so I think I'll always be adding to or changing my eyeshadow collection. But I have only bought three palettes this year, which is so much less than in past years! I also used to have this habit of holding onto every eyeshadow palette I'd ever bought and this year I've been so much better at decluttering palettes. I've got rid of quite a few this year. I've realised through this challenge how long it takes to use up eyeshadow so I only want to keep what I really love. Its also effected what I buy, I definitely put a lot more thought into the palettes I buy, I always consider if I have anything similar and what it will add to my collection. So although I will be buying palettes in the future I want to continue using up what I have, decluttering what I have fallen out of love with and only buying things that bring something different to the table.
As for the money I've saved I've decided I want to put this towards single eyeshadows. I do want to increase the amount of singles I have so I can use this for filling gaps in my collection, rather than picking up a full palette when I really only want a couple of shades. I currently have two magnetic palettes, the NYX one and a Freedom one that currently holds blushes, I want to make room in these palettes before I bring on any singles so I'll have to continue to work through the shades I have. I also want to continue to save money when I finish up shadows so I can keep adding to my fund for single shadows.
I've decided to include my photos from last March so I can show how far I actually came in a year. I know I didn't meet my goals with all of the shades, but I think I accomplished a lot, here is my final update and finale.
Smashbox Mini Trio - all shades left (DONE)
This little palette was surprisingly such a challenge. Last March I'd hit pan on both shades and I wanted to use them up. Both of these shadows were such a hard job to finish, but I did it! I actually had one more use of the dark brown shade after last month's update. I took a photo of this empty for my All The Makeup I've Used Up This Year post, but then I threw away the packaging before I took a picture for this post. Although its small I'm glad to have finished a whole palette!
Mac Quad - Shades 1(done), 2 & 3
My aim for this palette was to finish the first shade and hit pan on the second and third and I did that! When I decided to put this palette in my project it was because I wasn't showing it a lot of love and I wanted to give it one last whirl before throwing what was left away, but I actually ended up really liking the shades. The taupe is tricky to work with, but pair it with a pink or purple in the crease and it makes a beautiful look. The pink shade is one of my favourite highlights for both the eyes and face, its super light and sheeny without chunky glitter.
I wanted to use the two shades a little more throughout December so I could come to a decision about what I would do with this palette once my project was over. You may notice a little change in this palette because I made up my mind. I decided I had similar enough shades to the taupe that I could live without it, but not without the pink shade, so I depotted it and replaced it with the light pink from my Freedom singles. I didn't love this pink as its not as pigmented as the Mac shadow and has a lot of glitter. The Mac shade isn't magnetic but it fits in my NYX palette that holds my singles, but it does rattle around a little. I'm going to be parting ways with the shades in this palette now.
Freedom single shadows - all shades
My Freedom singles looked pretty much new in March of last year and I just wanted to hit pan on all of the shades. Out of the nine that were originally in the palette, I only managed to hit pan on three, which is honestly pretty crap. I wanted to include this palette because the shadows were getting lost in my collection so I feel like I did show them a lot more love. I also thought it would add variation to the looks I was able to create if I didn't just include neutral shades, but it was difficult to make looks that I felt comfortable wearing to work. I noticed with these shadows that it took around two months of wearing a shade most weekdays to hit pan, which is why the colours I didn't wear to work (the steel and purple shades) barely look used. I like to use my weekends to experiment with other palettes in my collection so that they didn't just collect dust while I did this challenge. I definitely think if I was to do a project like this again I would probably stick to more neutral shades, and mix them with colourful shades from other palettes.
I am happy that I managed to show this more love, it meant that I know which shades I like and which I don't, which is why I've got rid of the light pink shade. I tried in the last month to hit pan on the second red shade, but I didn't quite manage to. I'm thinking I may declutter this as both of the reds are pretty similar and I don't need two. I want to continue to use this palette, as I said I want to pick up some new singles and I want to make room in this palette to fit them in!
I am happy that I managed to show this more love, it meant that I know which shades I like and which I don't, which is why I've got rid of the light pink shade. I tried in the last month to hit pan on the second red shade, but I didn't quite manage to. I'm thinking I may declutter this as both of the reds are pretty similar and I don't need two. I want to continue to use this palette, as I said I want to pick up some new singles and I want to make room in this palette to fit them in!
Sleek iDivine Eyeshadow Palette in Au Natural - Shades 1,3, 5 & 6
You may remember I initially included this Sleek palette but it only lasted from March to July. This was one of the first eyeshadow palettes I picked up when I started to get into makeup and I knew it was getting pretty old. I noticed when I was using the mattes that they either weren't performing the way they used to or I've discovered formulas that I like a lot more than this one. I then decided it was definitely for the best if I threw this away. I'm really glad I put this in the project though. I used to be a bit of a hoarder when it came to palettes and I never binned them. After putting this in the project it kind of turned on a switch in my head and I started a chain of decluttering. I thought keeping them all meant I'd have lots of variation in my collection, but the thing is a lot of my palettes were similar and there were a lot of dupes. Because of that there were a lot them that I wasn't using and were probably going bad just like this one, so I began throwing them out. In future I'll definitely be thinking a lot more carefully about whether a palette offers anything new before I pick it up and I also want to continue to declutter palettes I'm not using.
Revolution Iconic 2 Palette - Shades 1-5
So back in September I replaced my Sleek palette with this Revolution palette, which I had a little more luck with. I put this palette in because its another one of my oldest palettes that I wasn't reaching for that often (at this point I can't even remember which of my palettes I was reaching for). I just wanted to show it a little more love, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make noticeable progress.
In three months I managed to completely finish up the cream shade which I'm really happy about. I also hit pan on the brown shade which is great. I also had really good fun playing with the other three shades. I have this tendency to reach for and buy really big palettes, but this showed me that I can make a lot of looks with my smaller palettes. I've rekindled some love for this palette and even though its very neutral I'm actually excited to keep wearing it.
All in all I only actually met my goal on 10 out of the 18 shadows, but I feel like I learned a lot more along the way. I've decided for the next year I won't be doing another palette panning challenge, I want to experiment with my other palettes and I don't want to restrict my use at the moment. For 2019 I'll be doing a year-long project pan and I think I'll include a couple of eyeshadows. I'm also going to be using one of my palettes a month and do more 5 Looks 1 Palette post like this one.
In three months I managed to completely finish up the cream shade which I'm really happy about. I also hit pan on the brown shade which is great. I also had really good fun playing with the other three shades. I have this tendency to reach for and buy really big palettes, but this showed me that I can make a lot of looks with my smaller palettes. I've rekindled some love for this palette and even though its very neutral I'm actually excited to keep wearing it.
All in all I only actually met my goal on 10 out of the 18 shadows, but I feel like I learned a lot more along the way. I've decided for the next year I won't be doing another palette panning challenge, I want to experiment with my other palettes and I don't want to restrict my use at the moment. For 2019 I'll be doing a year-long project pan and I think I'll include a couple of eyeshadows. I'm also going to be using one of my palettes a month and do more 5 Looks 1 Palette post like this one.
Do you have any panning projects for 2019?
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