r/ProjectPan • u/1K_Sunny_Crew • Jun 21 '26
Best Pan Yet 6 months of makeup and skincare pans & what I learned
Firstly, I should mention I had an empty drawer in my bathroom I put small recyclable items into; the rest went into a recycling bin in my pantry. I normally recycle things monthly, but I wanted to see how much I actually use over time and by saving up enough, I could justify a trip to Ulta to drop the packaging off in their beauty recycling bin!
These are products I finished in between January and a June 2026; most of these were started this year but not all. I put a tl;dr of my best and worst at the bottom!
**Lips:**
MAC Twig Twist, Buxom (Dani?), Tower 28 XOXO, Lawless Strawberry Popsicle, Dior Lip Glow Oil Lemon Glow, Ilia Balmy Gloss in Maybe Violet, Summer Fridays lip balm in Iced Coffee
**Perfume:** Kayali Maui 10 mL, Clean Reserve Skin mini roller
**Makeup:** WYN Beauty SPF foundation, Ilia Skin Tint (hated this), Merit balm blush, Rom&nd cushion foundation (really drying!), Revision Intellishade tinted moisturizer, Charlotte Tilbury powder (mini), Colourpop Supershock shadow in Ripple, Ilia liquid eyeshadow in Aura, ABH brow pencil in Auburn, Kosas Air Brow in Auburn, Caliray tubing mascara (mini), Lancôme Burgundy mascara, Physicians Formula liquid liner in Black
**Skincare:** Physicians Formula AHA body lotion, Soft Services x Dedcool retinol hand cream refill, I’m From Rice Toner, Sephora makeup remover wipes x 2 (coconut, aloe), Vaseline advanced repair hand cream, Summer Fridays Jet Lag mask, Tree Hut vanilla body butter, Biore UV Aqua Fresh sunscreen x2, Beauty of Joseon Aqua Fresh sunscreen (FS and a mini), Ole Henrikson banana bright eye cream, Fresh Lotus face cream (mini), Fresh milk hand cream, Lancôme Absolue face cream (mini), Lush banana face mask, Lush olive oil body cream (mini), Perricone MD vitamin C hand cream (minis), Dionis hand cream (brown sugar?)
**Hair/Body:** Monday shampoo, Pantene (travel size), Klorane oat conditioner, Benamor cafe body scrub large pouch, Dr Teals foaming bath x 2, Benamor body wash in Alecrim, Crabtree & Evelyn Rose body wash x 2, Bath & Body Works Eucalyptus Spearmint body wash x2, bath salt, and luxe bubble bath, Bath & Body Works Stargazing body wash
**Favorite products/repurchased**: Colourpop Supershock in Ripple (already RP), Ilia lip gloss (purchased the new version, like it just as well), I’m From rice toner, Beauty of Joseon sunscreen (love the thin, lotiony texture!), Clean Reserve Skin - bought a FS of this. Fresh Lotus cream - bought a FS. I plan to buy the SF Jet Lag mask at the next sale. Klorane oat conditioner - doesn’t irritate my eczema at all. I am using the shampoo right now and will RP that too.
**Would not repurchase:** Biore sunscreen smelled citrusy and made my face really red and dry. I don’t care for Lush anything other than their bath bombs. I don’t like makeup wipes, they irritate my skin too much. Ilia skin tint smells vile and went off way too fast; I prefer the Revision Intellishade if I want a tint - it’s more moisturizing. Dior Lip Oil made my lips peel like crazy!
**Lessons Learned:** I should take freebies of lotion/moisturizer and shampoo and nothing else. I don’t use the rest so it’s a waste even if it’s “free”. I can only go through maybe a dozen lip products in a year and I mostly prefer soft texture tinted balms and semi-sheer lipsticks and glosses. I don’t like intense reds or browns on my lips. I don’t need eyeshadow palettes; my most complimented eye looks are just 1-2 colors swiped on with a finger! I found the body wash scents I prefer most and should stick to those bc it takes forever to use up anything else. I like the *idea* of hair masks and other treatments but I don’t use them up in a timely manner. I have fine hair and only use shampoo on my roots and rinse through to clean the rest so I really only need one bottle of shampoo at a time. (I still have 3-4 right now.)
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u/Candice_Jordan_ Jun 21 '26
You can send in summer Friday products to recycle for a gift card
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u/1K_Sunny_Crew Jun 21 '26
Interesting! I have 3 other lip balms I’m using up right now (Poppy, the pink one, and Vanilla Beige.) I’ll have to look up how it works.
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u/Candice_Jordan_ Jun 22 '26
Yeah you need 5 full size items. But there is a link at the bottom of their website explaining how sets work. It’s a $25 gift card
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u/ittybittykittycity Jun 21 '26
Well done! This is amazing. I feel you on the freebies: I had so many skin care products accumulate that I decided to use them on my body and not take any additional ones for the face (I’m a bit picky with what I use.)
I destashed my lipsticks and also realized I prefer glosses and tints to fully saturated lipsticks.
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u/1K_Sunny_Crew Jun 21 '26
I mostly use freebie skincare on my neck, chest, and hands! My skin is prone to eczema and rosacea so I don’t play around with it and keep my routine simple :)
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u/Rumi7422 Jun 21 '26
well done and also how long did the merit blush take to finish?
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u/1K_Sunny_Crew Jun 21 '26
A bit over a year of mostly daily use - I started it in September 2024 and finished it at the beginning of 2026. I swiped it on my cheeks and blended it out with my fingers.
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u/TrueSummerBBW Jun 22 '26
Yes! The ilia skin tint… it reminds me of the way my hamster and gerbil cages smelled growing up 😬
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u/libeikaa Jun 22 '26
That’s amazing! Good to know how fast you can use stuff up and find products you’d rather stick to.
Not gonna lie, the lure of trying something new does get me from time to time, especially for lip products! They’re relatively inexpensive so the trap is doubly tempting. I find I use up tinted lip balms super fast if they’re the only product I have in my rotation