10 Things to Know Before You Start Panning

When I first started panning I didn't know what I was doing. There were lots of people who seemed to know everything and flew trough products with such ease whilst I stood there with my lipsticks in my hands wondering where I should start. I know I wasn't alone in this and I know a lot of people still struggle with panning. My goal with this post is to maybe help some people who are thinking about panning their makeup, but have no idea how to begin.
What I decided to do when I first started was to just get a bunch of products I thought I could finish rather quickly and then I called that my first project. Needless to say, the project could have gone better. I had no idea how long anything would take to finish, I didn't chose the products with any motive other than "I think I can finish these rather quickly and I think that would look good on instagram". It wasn't a good enough reason.

I am by no means an expert now. It's only a few months later, but I do believe I've learnt a lot about how I should pan. So without further ado, here are my best tips when it comes to panning makeup and skin care:

1. Don't expect too much. If you want to see change overnight you have to declutter your stash and throw away your products. When you're panning you still have to use them up and finishing makeup takes time. Remember that.
2. Make realistic goals, know that it will take time. Before you know how long it takes to use up a product, don't put it in a project with a small time frame. Give yourself time.
3. Chose different kinds of products. I'd recommend you chose different types of products for your projects. Yes, it can be fun to pan five lipsticks at a time, but if you don't use lots of lipstick it is going to take way too much time before you see any progress. From experience, that is incredibly disheartening and you can easily lose all motivation for the project. I recommend you chose to pan products you can easily wear at the same time. That way you can work on everything every day if you so desire.
4. Start with the oldest products in your collection. If your goal is to use your makeup before it expires, this is a no-brainer. Chose your oldest products and use them up. Personally, I get the most satisfaction from panning these products. You made sure you got your money's worth.
5. Look at what other people are doing. Learn from your peers. We're all in this together and everyone wants to help. It is an amazing community. Join other people's projects, listen to their experiences and learn from other peoples successes and mistakes.
6. Why do you want to pan? Ask yourself this before you start a project. It's all fun and games to chose products on a whim, but ask yourself what you truly want to use as well as what you want gone from your collection and build your projects based on that knowledge.
7. Don't Hate-pan. A mistake I think a lot of us make is to start projects with only products we hate because we want to get rid of them. Don't do that. When you stumble upon products you hate in your collection you have to alternatives: You can pan them or you can declutter them. Personally, I always try to pan my products, but if it is something you absolutely truly hate then I'd recommend you declutter it. Life is to short for that much negativity in your life. If you chose to pan these items, be sure to include them in projects (or just use them) with products you love. That will keep you motivated.
8. Be creative. I recently had a face cream I couldn't stand on my face so I decided to use it as a body lotion all over my body instead. The important thing is not how you use it, the important thing is that you use it.
9. Go on a replacement-only no buy. It is good for you. Trust me. When I first started panning I decided to go on a year-long no-buy immediately. Since I wanted to downsize my collection it felt natural to not buy anything new and only buy products when I had run out of everything in that category. I still haven't run out of anything makeup related yet and it's already July.
10. You're here to learn. This is incredibly important. Don't beat yourself up if you don't reach all your goals in a project, and don't beat yourself up if you break a no-buy. You're here to learn and be more conscious about your spending habits. The important thing is to not give up. If you break your no-buy, just keep going. You'll reach your goals sooner or later if you just keep trying.

I hope you got something out of reading my advice on panning. If you have any more tips and tricks or if you have any questions, please write a comment below. And never hesitate to slide into my DM:s on instagram. I love to talk to you peeps!