Project Pan: The Products I Hope to Use Up in 2018

A fair few years ago, my last post on the topic was back in 2012 can you believe, I decided to embark on a project pan in a bid to try and downsize my makeup and beauty collection. Having become more lax on my efforts, I instead have tried to enforce a one in one out policy, buying new makeup only to replace the item I have finished, to maintain the size of my collection.

With the new year being underway, I have decided to re-embark on a Project Pan to see how much of my makeup I can get through over the course of the next 12 months and keep you updated on my progress. Although I don't go crazy buying new makeup, my collection is nicely topped up with various PR samples that I am sent for review so it is very easy for old favourites to get pushed to the back of my muji drawers and for me to become reliant on the same makeup products day in day out and using a very small proportion of my overall collection.

If you've never heard of 'Project Pan' before, the main idea is to go through your beauty things, in my case the focus is my makeup, shortlist the items that you want to either hit pan on, the satisfying silver part of your makeup well hidden under the makeup itself, and in the best case scenario, use those items up completely! If you want to be really strict you can commit yourself to a project no-buy and restrain yourself from buying new makeup or beauty products during this time to help you to use what you already have. Going old school, you may even see a return of 'shopping my stash' posts in a bid to rotate my day to day makeup. There's no set rules at the end of the day, just the idea that project pan will help you to use up the products that you already have.

For my Project Pan I aim to stick to the following:

+Use up selected makeup products over the next 12 months and post product reviews as and when these products hit pan/ run out completely.

+Avoid buying makeup products completely, only buying a product if there is no alternative of the same product category in my collection (i.e. concealer/ foundation)

Some of the Items I hope to use more (ideally finish) this year are:

-Becca Champagne Pop Highlighter - (I dropped this and it shattered so popping this in more convenient packaging should help me to get use out of this).

-Hourglass Luminous Flush Blusher

-Ted Baker Makeup Books

-MAC Satin Taupe

-17 Bella Lipstick

Makeup Products I've Used up so far (Updated 2nd December):
Bourjois City Radiance Foundation (02 Vanilla)
Bourjois Radiance Reveal Concealer (01 Ivory)
Maybelline 24Hour Foundation (10 Ivory)
Primark Setting Powder
Benefit Porefessional
Benefit Hoola Bronzer
The Ordinary Foundation
Maybelline Colour Tattoo - Creme De Nude
Becca Champagne Pop Highlighter
MUA Eyeshadow - Fudge
MUA Blusher - Bon Bon
Maybelline Fit Me Concealer - 05
Maybelline Facestudio Chrome Extreme (Molten Rose Gold)
Revolution Conceal & Define - C3
CYO Long Lasting Foundation - 102 x 2
IT Cosmetics Translucent Powder
Bourjois Volume Glamour Effect Mascara

Have you ever tried a project pan? Read my last post on Products I want to Use Up HERE

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, by Beth

2018

2018 Goals: My New Years Resolutions

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

I am fully aware I am late to the 'new year' aspect of this blogpost as technically we are now almost a month into 2018, however, clean starts can start whenever you want them to and, for me, a new semester at uni is a good enough clean start as any. I’m the biggest skeptic of your cliché resolutions; 'go to the gym every day', 'lose a stone', 'drink less' but the reality is - I hate the gym, I love food and I love wine. That said, I still want to give myself some goals and plans to focus on and work towards and if I do manage to at least achieve some of them, I'll feel accomplished. If not, there's always next year!

Today I want to give you an insight into some of my 2018 goals, namely for me to remember them a couple of months down the line, but also so that some of you can get inspired to restart working on your resolutions now that the worst month of the year is nearly over...

Health and Fitness

Probably the most cliché of all new years resolutions are those related to health and fitness. For me I can break this down further into six subcategories:

Running: At the end of last year I started to slack on my running routine to allow time to complete my uni assignments. This term I want to block off my time to allow myself to make running a regular thing, even if it means running to training, to try and run at least twice a week. Distance wise, there was a period where I could run 3 miles / 5km fairly comfortably so I hope that I can get back to that level in 2018.

Walking: Since getting my FitBit I've become more aware of how few steps I do on a regular, non-working, day. To rectify this, as the weather will hopefully start to pick up and the days will start drawing out, I hope to be organised enough to walk the 3 miles to and from uni in order to get my steps in and to get some fresh air and exercise. Saving myself the £10 a week on bus tickets will also go a long way with my ££ saving efforts.

Rowing: This semester I want to continue working on my rowing, on and off the water, and take part in our clubs fundraising ergathon.

Diet: Not going on a diet per sé but simply becoming more conscious of the foods I'm eating, trying to eat more greens and cutting down my Kinder Bueno intake.

Drink: Another cliché resolution but simply aiming to drink more water to reap its many benefits.

Sleep: Since getting my FitBit I've become a little too obsessive with tracking my sleep. This year I want to try and aim to get to sleep before 11pm and awake by 8am in hope that a regular sleeping schedule with allow me to feel more refreshed and be generally more productive.

Photo by @JeShoots on Unsplash

Personal

Aside from the health and fitness goals, I've many more random resolutions to work towards, relating to uni, blogging, beauty and finances:

Live in the present: After watching a very interesting TedTalk recently about how much time we spend/waste/pass on our phones and miss out on what is going on around us, I want to focus more of my energy actively putting my phone down and living in the present, restricting my phone time to when I'm alone and away from social scenarios.

Blog again: Last year I lost my mojo for my blog and months would pass between posts. This year I want to use the time I'd waste mindlessly scrolling through Snapchat and Instagram to write content, even if its fifteen minutes a day, in hope that writing little bits of content on a more regular basis will lead to a more regular blogpost schedule - here's hoping!

Photography: I always feel that I am wasting the endless capabilities of my SLR camera so next month I hope to take part in my uni's photography societies course on how to use your slr in hope that I can start using my camera to its full potential.

Save: I'm fairly good at being frugal with my money and avoiding shopping sprees, despite being a stones throw away from the bullring shopping centre. That said, I want to start making regular payments to my savings account to put towards my summer holiday, where this year I hope to go to Italy, and try to remain careful of where I'm pouring my money away ( such as milkshake orders and Uber fares).

Streamline my life: Since reading Sarah Knight's 'Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck', I've become more of the mindset of simple is best. With that, I hope to be able to streamline certain aspects of my life, whether it be my Facebook feed, my many email inboxes or more simply, my wardrobe. With this, I also hope to continue my project pan and one in one out policy with my beauty and make-up stash and switch up my makeup bag more frequently in order to get the best use of my make-up collection.

Travel

Visit 3 New Places: Last year I was fortunate enough to visit a continent I'd never visited before. Although this year I don't expect to travel as far as China, I would like to set myself the goal of visiting 3 new places, even if they're all in the UK.

So those are my resolutions for the year. What goals have you set yourself for 2018?

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, by Beth

City Break

TRAVEL: How to spend a day in London

The National Gallery

Going to a big city can be daunting, trying to see as much of it as you can in one day is equally so. That said, I recently rose to the challenge and tried to see as much of London as I could in less than 10 hours, accompanied by my boyfriend Dan. The day started with an 8am train that would arrive into London Euston for 10:30 am. The main focus for our day was The British Museum as Dan had always wanted to visit. After spending a substantial amount of time (over two hours!) in the museum, we ventured to Pizza Express for our lunch. As expected, we were stung by London prices and over priced potato sides. Nevertheless, the pizza was perfect – as ever.

Nelsons Column

Although the British Museum was our prime destination, we I had jotted down some key places of interest that I wanted to tick off my mental checklist. Although I have previously visited London on a handful of occasions, and seen the key sightseeing spots, I wanted to live like a tourist for the day.

Our next destination after Lunch was Covent Garden. I’d had my heart set on visiting the Magnum pop up shop, yet despite asking around and being misinformed that the store had closed (it hadn’t), I couldn’t help but feel an ice cream shaped hole from my day. I instead opted for a Tesco bought Magnum and set for our next destination – Trafalgar Square. Whilst in Trafalgar square we were able to check off Nelson’s column from our list, and if it's of interest to you, you are also able to check out The National Gallery here too. Having already visited this previously, we instead took a brisk stroll towards Embankment, passing the changing of the guards on our way.

The British Museum

After taking a stroll along the Thames, we took a walk to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben before jumping on the tube again. We found ourselves with a lot more extra time in the day than we'd initially anticipated so decided to take a trip to the Natural History Museum. Not only is this building absolutely beautiful, but I'm a Geography geek so spent a little too long in the earthquakes and volcanoes exhibition. We also visited The Science Museum which is directly behind The Natural History Museum. Admittedly we were less impressed by the exhibits in here but seeing as both museums were free, we can't complain.

Natural History Museum

The last part of our day was spent mooching around Shoreditch, Oxford Street and taking a walk through Carnaby Street before finally heading back to London Euston for our return train home. I was pleasantly surprised by how much of London I could see in less than 10 hours but it certainly can be done!

Carnaby Street

One thing I would highly recommend, if you are going to try and see London in a day is to get yourselves a day travel card. We’d bought ours for an extra £3 each on top of our train ticket and it meant that you had unlimited bus and tube transport within a select number of zones. Being fairly familiar with the London Underground system, it meant that we saved time and got between our destinations quicker. That said, a lot of our day trip was spent walking and it is fairly easy to get between London landmarks on foot, though this is less enjoyable with the dreary British weather.

Have you visited London lately? Where do you recommend?

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, by Beth

Benefit

WHAT'S IN MY MAKE-UP BAG: AUTUMN/WINTER EDITION (feat. NEW Rimmel Volume Colourist Double Act Mascara and Rimmel Brow Colourist Eyebrow Tinting Gel)

As ever, it’s been a hot minute since I last updated you on my daily makeup routine. Having gotten myself in a make-up rut, or a happy and complacent place, with the makeup I’ve been wearing for Autumn/ Winter, I thought that I’d share with you the products I’ve been most faithful to lately. For those of you who also read my last daily make-up routine blog-post, you may spot a couple of old faithfuls, however you’ll be glad to spot a couple of new additions...

To start with my base, I must talk about my current favourite foundation, the new Maybelline Superstar 24H Full Coverage. I've had the opportunity to try this in the three lightest shades (03, 05 and 10) but find the lightest shade of the range to be a best fit. The foundation blends easily with a brush or, in my case, a damp real techniques sponge and settles into the skin to give a natural soft matte finish. If I am using a powder with this, there is no need to touch this up. and the foundation will last all day, even without a primer. Paired with my foundation, I’ve continued to use the Bourjois Radiance Reveal Concealer to brighten under my eyes without caking. As and when I decide to powder, I’ve currently been reaching for my Collection Loose Powder. A little too dark for my skin tone, I use this solely to dust over my face, namely my t-zone, and to keep my base in place all day.

For my cheeks I've still been loving my Benefit Hoola Bronzer, used with my NYX Strobe of Genius Palette for both blusher and highlight. The shades are highly pigmented but blend effortlessly as not to leave you with a shiny stripe on your face. I tend to use the far right shade as a blusher and the middle shade as a bronzer and mix the two lightest shades for my highlight. The shades provide a nice sheen without being glittery and will easily last all day. I’ve definitely got my fair share of use out of this since my last post back in August as I’ve hit pan on five of the seven shades.

On my eyes I've continued to reach for a combination of my NYX Strobe of Genius highlighter palette, the lighter colours dusted all over my lids, but switching it up using my Stila Eyes are the Window Palette (Soul) to deepen the crease. To accompany this I’ve recently been trying out the Rimmel Volume Colourist Double Act Mascara. The mascara is double ended with one end working as a tint and the other as a mascara. Where the mascara itself leaves for very natural looking fluttery lashes, doesn’t smudge or flake, I’ve been really impressed by the gradual tint that this has given my otherwise blonde lashes. For brows I’ve been using the Rimmel Brow Colourist Eyebrow Tinting Gel. For a brow rookie like me, this has been an easy way to add some colour to my otherwise, non-existent, brows.

Last but not least, I’ve been keeping my lips very simple by just using my EOS Lipbalm, switching it up with my Rimmel 107 lipstick during the festive period.

So that's all for my Autumn/Winter make-up look! What are your go-to products for the cooler seasons?

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, by Beth

Budget

Waitrose Skincare - Best and Worst

The Best & Worst Skincare Products from Waitrose

A little while ago I delved into the beauty section at Waitrose to investigate their Pure range. With a 1/3 off price promotion, and being able to claim partner discount on top, I decided to pop a couple of their products into my shopping basket to see what the range had to offer. I'll admit that I bought each of these three products on a whim and hadn't read any reviews on the range so had no idea what to expect, nevertheless, I've given them a go and want to share my thoughts.

waitrose pure hydration skincare hot cloth cleanser

HOT CLOTH CLEANSER WITH COTTON SEED OIL (£5)

When buying this, the cleanser came packaged in a box with a muslin cloth which, for the bargain of £3.33 that I purchased this at, was an added perk. The cleanser itself is an gel to oil consistency but with a grainy texture. One thing I can praise this for is that it works excellently at removing make-up, melting away even the toughest of eye makeup and mascara and not irritating your eyes. The natural cotton seed oil extracts mean that it is super gentle on the skin, and the sand-like grains make for a light exfoliation. The downfall of this cleanser, however, is the layer of moisture that is left behind on your skin after using it, meaning that the residue can be difficult to remove unless a different flannel and cleanser is used. The scent of this, despite being fragrance free, is also something that I'm not keen on. Because of this, I wouldn't reach to repurchase this.

waitrose pure hydration skincare facial oil

FACIAL OIL WITH COTTON SEED OIL (£5)

This oil is gentle on the skin and unscented. Packaged in a glass bottle, complete with handy pipette, this is quick and convenient to use. I do find that this takes a little time to sink into the skin so opt to use this in the evening, an hour or so before bed, as otherwise it is greasy on the skin. As a result of using this, however, my skin is left soft and nourished and this soothes any irritation or dryness I have.

waitrose pure hydration skincare cleansing powder

CLEANSING AND EXFOLIATING POWDER (£3)

I'd never seen a product like this before, so it was more intrigue, than the need for exfoliation, that I bought this. Made with waterlily to help soothe and calm sensitive skin, I use this micro exfoliant as a way to exfoliate and soften my skin, after it has been cleansed, and not as a way to remove makeup or cleanse as others may use this.

After sprinkling this product onto your hands and mixing with water, this works to create a soft lather, without the bubbles, to gently cleanse and exfoliate. The perk of using this over other manual exfoliators is that you aren't left with a tight and aggravated face, but can choose how much water you add to determine how strong of an exfoliator you are after meaning that the exfoliation can be mild enough to used everyday, and even mixed with other liquid cleansers if you'd prefer.

Overall I feel that the Pure range from Waitrose is definitely worth a look at, if only to trial the exfoliating powder, which is the first budget micro exfoliant that I have seen.

Have you tried anything from the Waitrose Pure skincare line? Let me know below.

Read more like this...

Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel Review

Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask Review

Clarins Pure Melt Cleansing Gel Review

Skincare: My Current Cleansers

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, by Beth

2017

Reflecting on my 2017 New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone! Aren’t we glad that 2017 is over eh? 2017 had its ups and downs and I'm glad of a clean slate - so here’s to 2018! At the beginning of last year I made 9 resolutions in my 2017 resolutions blogpost and now it’s time to reflect and see how well I did.

Run 5km in 30 minutes

Unfortunately I wasn't able to run 5km in 30 minutes but I did manage to knock down my pb for 1 mile down to 8:18. This year I hope to get back on track with my running and get my fitness up again to run 5km easily.

Row 500m in under 2 minutes & 2000m in under 9 minutes

Its been a long time since I've been on an erg machine so I've no idea where my times lie. The best time I managed to get for 2km was 9:04 which isn't too far off. This is definitely something I need to get back into practice with, particularly as I'm taking part in a fundraising Ergathon.

Blog More

Whoops. I was so good at this for the first 3 months of the year, scheduling weekly content for you all. Admittedly this tailed off towards the middle and end of the year. Once again, this year I hope to become more active on my blog, and make better use of the time I spend mindlessly scrolling through social media to write out blog content.

Watch more Ted Talks

This resolution lasted less than a week. I did, however, during the first term of second year, work as part of a team at uni to organise a TedX event which watching the live talks had more impact than any Ted Talks I'd seen before.

Do my reading

I fulfilled this goal, and completed the reading set for each seminar. Next year I hope to continue this, but make sure that I prioritise making a start on my assignments over reading 100+ word chapters and making more effective use of my time.

Moisturise more

I've managed to become more conscious and active at moisturising my body since new year 2017. As the nights have drawn colder I've become more lax at this, but when the spring/summer wardrobe is out, I'll be back to moisturising on a daily basis.

Learn I Giorni on the Piano

Unfortunately this didn't happen in 2017. I did, however, teach myself to play Salvation by Gabrielle Aplin which was an improvement on 2016's ability.

Be Better With Time Management

My time management in 2017 went in waves of great and so-so. I think I deserve particular praise for being able to apply for placements throughout my first semester of second year, whilst also being part of my uni rowing teams committee.

Take more photos

My trip to China back in June was a great opportunity to experiment with my camera, alongside various short breaks, including Amsterdam, London and Hay-on-Wye.

As you can see, I've varying success with last years resolutions, and I hope to build on these in 2018 (stay tuned for a separate post on these). I also feel that I made some non-resolution achievements that I am proud to have done in 2017. These include:

Going on my first 'first date'

Being awarded student of first year for my degree and achieving a 78% average

Delivering my first pitch to industry

Attending my first placement interview, two assessment centres and getting offered a Marketing Placement starting July 2018.

Visiting Asia before turning 21

Celebrating my 21st Birthday with my closest friends and family

Did you stick to your 2017 resolutions?

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, by Beth

Pages

Project Pan: The Products I Hope to Use Up in 2018

2018 Goals: My New Years Resolutions

TRAVEL: How to spend a day in London

WHAT'S IN MY MAKE-UP BAG: AUTUMN/WINTER EDITION (feat. NEW Rimmel Volume Colourist Double Act Mascara and Rimmel Brow Colourist Eyebrow Tinting Gel)

Waitrose Skincare - Best and Worst

The Best & Worst Skincare Products from Waitrose

HOT CLOTH CLEANSER WITH COTTON SEED OIL (£5)

FACIAL OIL WITH COTTON SEED OIL (£5)

CLEANSING AND EXFOLIATING POWDER (£3)

Reflecting on my 2017 New Years Resolutions

Beth

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Project Pan: The Products I Hope to Use Up in 2018

2018 Goals: My New Years Resolutions

TRAVEL: How to spend a day in London

WHAT'S IN MY MAKE-UP BAG: AUTUMN/WINTER EDITION (feat. NEW Rimmel Volume Colourist Double Act Mascara and Rimmel Brow Colourist Eyebrow Tinting Gel)

Waitrose Skincare - Best and Worst

The Best & Worst Skincare Products from Waitrose

HOT CLOTH CLEANSER WITH COTTON SEED OIL (£5)

FACIAL OIL WITH COTTON SEED OIL (£5)

CLEANSING AND EXFOLIATING POWDER (£3)

Reflecting on my 2017 New Years Resolutions

Beth

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Popular Posts This Month

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Blog Archive

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