Panning and Finishing thoughts

Happy New Year everyone! Since the year has come to a close, I've been trying to collect my thoughts on the whole panning/finishing challenges I've been involved with over the last several months and why they can be so difficult to complete. Hope you find this interesting and can understand by the end my thought process!

1. I don't wear makeup every day
I'm sure this will come to no surprise for some of you, but for me, I find it quite difficult to work through an eyeshadow. Because I don't wear makeup every day (on average 3-5 days a week), it will take me twice as long as others to work though a product.

2. I rarely wear lip products
As you've seen, my Finish 6 by Christmas didn't pay off as much as I wanted it to simply because I focused so much on lip products. In reality, lip balm is the only lip product I wear every single day, which is why it was way easier to finish than the other products. Because my lips are fairly pigmented, I simply don't feel I need the extra colour. And there were simply too many lip products to use.

3. I get tired of wearing the same products
This was certainly one of the reasons my Pan That Palette challenge faded a bit over the fall. While I will wear the same eyeshadows and products when I'm busy and don't want to think about the makeup, in general, I like choosing different colors and shades to wear every day. That is the appeal of makeup for me. When I get boxed in and limited to only a few shades, I feel stifled, and then wearing makeup isn't as much fun.

So from these three points listed, you may ask, why should I continue on with these panning challenges? Here are my reasons why:

1. I need to use up my makeup
Having been fortunate enough to not have started acquiring makeup till university years, I am happy that I don't have decades-old makeup from teenage years. However, I still have perfectly good products collecting dust that either need to be used up or tossed. These challenges, however slow they can be, can motivate me further to use up.

2. Rediscovering old products
You know that feeling when you find an old top or favorite piece of clothing that you loved and still want to wear? I get that feeling with my makeup. I remember how pretty certain shadows look together, and I want to use them again.

3. Finding new and creative ways of application
I am still discovering new combinations and ways to wear my makeup. Although I don't watch nearly as many as I used to, a new makeup tutorial can still spark that creative urge in me to try out new ways and different techniques or shades.

Overall, I know it is so invigorating to purchase new products. But simply put, we don't need a million different shades of purple, or 5 different neutral palettes. Let's be satisfied with the things we have and work on chipping away at our own makeup collection instead of continually buying things we don't need. As for me, I'll continue to love my collection and work on using up products. I may have to find different ways of doing that instead of panning challenges, but the overall goal is still the same.