Earlier this week, I connected with Sarah, the UK-based beauty writer behind A Woman’s Confidence, who informed me of The Project Panner Tag, a concept that’s been making rounds on YouTube and the beauty blogosphere.

As someone who loves finishing makeup products and beauty writing, I figured I’d give The Project Panner Tag a go as well.

1. How long have you been project panning?

A little over two years.

2. What made you decide to start panning? What did you hope to get out of it?

My decision to start panning coincided with the beauty industry boom in the late 2010s.

In short, the mass availability and variety of makeup products made me feel overwhelmed; project pan, with its requirement that you focus on enjoying what you already have, helped reduce negative feelings and bring joy back into my beauty routine.

3. How do you like to structure your project pans? Short seasonal projects, year-long rolling projects, or something else?

Though I keep a capsule makeup collection, where many products, such as concealer, skincare, and setting powder, get used year-round, select products and colors get used on a seasonal basis.

As a result, I like to structure my project pans around three to six-month periods. For example, bright colors tend to get used during warm months (April through October, because Texas), while darker colors get used during cool months (November through February, also because Texas).

4. What are your favorite ways to track your progress?

Math, and anything related to it, makes me cry; I prefer to use visual markers to track my panning progress instead.

Full becomes half-full. Dips become pans. Pans become empties, and so on.

**5. What products have been the EASIEST for you to pan?**

Skincare, because it gets used every day. After that comes concealers, lip glosses, and cream products like shimmer eyeshadows and highlighters.

**6. What products have been the HARDEST for you to pan?**

Pressed powders (all kinds) and bullet lipsticks. Seriously, do they ever end?

7. Are there any types of products that you rarely or never put in a project pan?

Nail polishes and sunscreens because I tend to wear them sparingly. They also often go bad before I can make a meaningful dent in them.

I’ve learned to remedy this problem by buying only one sunscreen per year and limiting my nail polish collection to 12 shades.

8. Do you pan skincare or body care, or strictly makeup?

Yes to including skincare and body care.

It’s fun to monitor how long it takes to use up these items.

9. What is your #1 advice for a successful project pan?

Start small.

This is because some makeup products, such as pressed powders, take literal years to completely finish. Said years-long shelf lives are why it’s easy to get discouraged if you start with large items, especially if you’re new to the project pan game.

10. Has panning affected your makeup purchasing habits? If so, how?

Panning has helped me think more critically about my relationship with makeup, especially in regard to how much waste cosmetics create and the emotions that are tied up with them. Compared to my early 20s, when I was a more impulsive spender, my purchase frequency has slowed way down. My collection has also shrunk, to where it fits neatly in a small acrylic organizer.

Emotion is a particularly fascinating conscious consumption angle to me, because save for skincare, which is purchased on more utilitarian grounds, different brands and makeup items invoke certain fantasies. The off-duty Parisian model image, for example, is particularly tantalizing to me, as are romantic, sailing-on-the-Mediterranean fever dreams.

And while it’s fun to indulge in fantasies every now and then, I’ve learned to always examine my feelings, feelings that aren’t always grounded in reality, before acquiring a new beauty item.

Final thoughts on The Project Panner Tag

If all makeup carries a sense of time and identity, then the Project Panner Tag is a modern response to modern makeup’s sense of excess and overwhelm.

If you’re an aspiring project panner, let this post serve as an inspiring nudge in the right direction. And here’s to hoping the beauty industry will notice the project pan movement and interpret it as a signal to move in a better, more sustainable, direction as well.

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Hi! My name’s Alicia!

Welcome to Moon Emissary! When it comes to beauty, I’m a bit of a Communist – I believe less is more and that beauty should be accessible to all. Conscious consumption and effortless, undone makeup for people with melanin is my specialty; join me if you love inclusive, informative beauty writing just as much as I do.