How to Not Get Bored with Your Products

If you've ever set a goal to pan an entire palette under a year, you've probably woken up one day with no interest in using that palette. That one shade that used to be your absolute favourite has now become dull and you're wondering whether you should even bother to put on makeup at all. With this post I aim to help you to not get bored with your palettes as easily. If you keep reading you might learn a trick or two to stay motivated with your project pan products.

The number one trick I use to not get bored with my products is to only own one of them. No, don't close the tab just yet! It gets better! Let me explain. If you only own one you don't get bored, because it becomes routine to put it on. Not very helpful yet, I know, but it works. Trust me. I know I've neglected my project pan concealer a lot because I wanted to use another one more. When I only owned one concealer I never had that problem. My concealer was just a step in my makeup routine then and not something I thought about. So what did I do? I put my project pan concealer in my "routine everyday basket". I've talked about my baskets on this blog a lot before, but I swear by them. So what is my everyday basket? It's a basket I've put the makeup I use (read: should use) every day. It has one product of everything I need for a full face of makeup. When I wake up in the morning I put it on without much thought and go about my day. When I've finished one product I replace it with something from my stash and the cycle continues until I only have one left. Technically I don't own just one of all the products, but in the mornings my tired brain thinks I do. The fact that it saves me time in the morning is a huge benefit too.

A pic of my everyday makeup basket from almost a year ago.

But what about all the other products I have in my stash? Well, I do use them too. My everyday basket should probably be called, my "work day basket" because it's more "everyday" than "every day", you know? Whenever I put on makeup for a special occasion or do a specific makeup look for my IG I use whatever I like. This way I use the products I want to use up, when I don't think too much about what I'm putting on my face and I can play with whatever I want when I do my makeup for fun or need it to look absolutely flawless.

The everyday makeup basket doesn't work for everything, unfortunately. Eyeshadow palettes and powder products like blush take forever to pan and after a while wearing the same colours can be tiresome even when you barely notice what you're putting on. My tip here is to give yourself looser rules. Yes, sure, it'd make a great IG post to be able to show off your fully panned palette after just six months of regular use, but is it really worth it if you spend three of those six months hating what you put on your face? No. It's not worth it. Instead of forcing yourself to use only that palette for half a year, allow yourself to use other palettes too. Be careful not to give yourself too loose rules, but don't be too strict. Just like parenting, you know. You have to parent yourself now.

My own pan that palette is magnetic and it's easy to switch the pans around and even switch them between palettes. I take advantage of this all the time. Whenever I feel like the colour story is uninspiring, I switch the pans around. Whenever I feel like I need other colours in it to make it work, I bring some other shades in from another palette. This has helped me stay motivated to use it for the past four months.

My pan that palette and some shades I've been inserting whenever I needed a change.
(Old pic)

What else have I done to not get bored of my pan that palette? I've allowed myself to use other palettes. If I do a makeup look solely for an IG prompt I always start off by looking in my pan that palette (unless the prompt requires something else). If I can't complete the look with those shades I reach for another palette to compliment it. I try to always use at least one shade from my pan that palette every time, though. Even if it's just a transition shade or a black to smoke out my eyeliner. Always try to use one shade.

Another thing that really helps me personally is to keep my makeup clean. If you keep your makeup clean it feels new. You'd probably rather wear a product that looks clean than a product that looks kinda shabby. Sure, well loved product definitely have their charm, but I believe we want clean products with a dip in them rather than dirty products with a dip in them.

Lastly, I want to share another tip for your eyeshadow palettes. Google them. Search for inspo to see what other people manage to create. You'll get a ton of new inspiration and a spark will ignite when you see a stunning makeup look that you know you can recreate. Personally, I have a folder on IG where I add lots of makeup looks so that I can easily access tons of inspiration once I need it, but sometimes you just really need to see what someone has managed to create with your exact palette. Google is great for that. Just remember to give credit if you decide to copy someone's look!

So to summarize,

1. Have a basket for your everyday makeup so it becomes routine.
2. Allow yourself to use other products too (in moderation).
3. Rearrange your palettes if you can.
4. Keep your makeup clean so it feels new.
5. Google makeup inspo for your palettes.