My Panning Journey (and Why I Don't Now)

I have been a member of r/makeuprehab for more than four years, basically since the sub itself was created. In the beginning I remember there being a big focus on using up products in a certain amount of time. Projects like "5 By Fall" or "12 Pans of Christmas" were quite popular, and the introduction posts always seem to garner a lot of interest.

Over time, however, I came to despise these sorts of projects. Even if I used the same product every single day, I would not make nearly as much progress as some of the other members. I was lucky to finish two products a year, not five in the span of three months. I began to wonder if some people were overusing products just to "complete" the panning challenge. A few days ago Elle S posted a video about wasting product while she was big into panning. Hearing her say that made me feel so much more confident and comfortable in my "inability" to pan like others.

I learned that I use up product much more slowly than other people when I participated in the sub's first community Pan That Palette. While others chose big palettes like the Lorac Pro or Too Faced Chocolate Bar, I chose the quad Lorac Satisfying Toffee Crunch. It was only four shades, but it was honestly the best decision I could have made. I learned so much about eyeshadow placement by using those same four shades continually. I learned that I did not need so many shadows as YouTubers were telling me I did, especially so many that were similar. Instead, I would rather find the gold that is most particular to my tastes - not one that is yellow gold, one that is bronzy gold, one that is a bright metallic. Just because they are different from each other doesn't mean I need all of them.

I found it interesting too when the X by Y projects started becoming more specific. It was no longer just use this many products by this date but now themes were added into it as well. You had to match the products you were using up to the colors of the Avengers or relate it back to Pokemon in some way. It became less about using products you were going to use anyway and really focusing on them and more about showing others how many products you had that related to the theme, in my opinion at least. People would get excited about pulling out neglected products to write about in the intro post, but by the third update post the number of participants had dwindled considerably.

I no longer participate in any of these projects. I do maintain a rotating makeup bag, but I don't switch it out after a set time, just when I feel like changing things up every month or two. Sometimes I'll do what I call a "Focus Four," where I'll choose four products to focus on for a week. I think I might do that again soon with an eyeliner and eyeshadow palette I think would pair nicely together. It was so interesting to me to recognize the switch from "how much of a product I'm using" to "how I'm using a product." After all, I can still be a member of the beauty community even if I don't have a massive haul or empties picture to share.