Finish 5 By Cinco De Mayo Challenge- The Finish

Well here's the final instalment of my Finish 5 by Cinco de Mayo Challenge! I've been late photographing and posting this due to my laptop crashing twice and having to be sent to PC World to be fixed, as well as a long bout of RSI (Repetitive strain injury in my hands) which is why I was forced on a blogging break these past 3 weeks. So here in the photos are the five products I chose to use up and my progress.

May 5th The Finish

January 21st The Beginning

 

Sleek Oil Free Crème to Powder Foundation

Since I don't wear make up everyday anymore, foundations lasts me a long time (which is great for my bank balance!) As I was applying Sleek's foundation with a damp Real Techniques Expert face brush and later a damp Real Techniques Miracle Complexion sponge I used less product that I would have if I'd used the provided dry sponge in the compact. The Real Techniques Miracle Complexion sponge actually used more product that the expert face brush and also gave a better, even finish. This is almost pretty much done- with only a few more applications left.

No 7 Eye shadow Palette Gold eye shadow

I've almost used up most of the gold eye shadow. I found as the pan got bigger the eye shadow became more fragile and would crumble and move so that it got trapped in the hinges of the palette, which is why there is a lot less than in April's finish 5 update. I love wearing the gold as my no makeup make up look. Although I didn't finish the eye shadow by May 5th, I'm almost done and will keep going.

E.L.F Cream Blush and bronzer Duo (Blusher)

Although it looks like it's hardly been used, I've actually been wearing this a lot and there's hardly a dent in it! I've been using my finger tips to apply this, I guess if I used a brush I'd use up more, but it would just get wasted with excess left on the brush. I find that my fingertips the easiest way of applying cream blush. After throwing out a beloved Bobbi Brown Cream Pot Rouge blusher as it got rancid I'm going to try to get much more use out of my cream blushers. This has a nice colour and you do get a lot of product for your money but unfortunately it doesn't last throughout the day and needs reapplying or locked in with a layer of powder blusher on the top.

Revlon Super lustrous lip gloss

I have been using this but not as often as I wanted to since it's quite sticky which is off-putting to wear in hot weather. It has a nice peach glossiness and some sparkle to it. It's hard to see how much I've used up. Stood on it's end I've used about a finger- probably just over 1cm. Apart from matte lip lacquer I've decided to stop buying any more lip glosses as I have loads that I don't wear anymore since I've been getting  into lipstick.

No 7 Stay Perfect Eye Mousse in Fudge

This is something I was confident I'd finish, but I was concentrating using up the gold eye shadow  (as well as road testing other eye shadow for the blog) and I forgot about this!  It is small enough that I can use it up over the next couple of months.

So I pretty much failed on my Finish 5 by Cinco de Mayo Challenge but I have enjoyed it and found it useful and fairly satisfying. It's been useful to actually have a go at finishing products and having an idea of how long things take to finish (which was longer than I expected.)

What I've learnt

Start small! I think if you don't wear make up everyday products will take longer to use up. I overestimated how much I would use and I think if it's your first time doing such a challenge I'd use smaller sized products such as samples or mini sizes.

Choose just a few products to use up. Since this was Finish 5 by Cinco de Mayo I had to choose five products, but again as I don't wear make up every day, I'm going to choose fewer products in the the future such as three or four. I'm glad I didn't choose Finish 7 by spring as there's no way I would have completed it!

The type of Products. Think about the type of product that you use a lot and let that guide you. Obviously if you have loads of eye liner that you never wear but want to use up then go for it. Some products do seem to take ages though- such as lip gloss. I've never actually finished a lip gloss (only thrown it out after having the flu or if it smells odd ) and I think wand applicator ones have more product and are so much harder to finish than lip glosses in squeeze tubes.

Are Deadlines useful?
Deadlines give you motivation and push you to keep using products and if you plan to reward yourself at the end (by perhaps buying more make up!) then they can be useful as there's an end in sight. By documenting your progress publicly (such as posting on a blog, instagram etc) you feel bound to your word and that you must see it through.

The Project Pan community
Although Finish 5 by Cinco de Mayo wasn't one of the most popular project pan projects (I think because Cinco De Mayo isn't a well known festival over in the UK at least compared to the USA/Spain) I did manage to find about 8 or so people doing the project on instagram which was great as they were doing the same thing to the same deadline and I also found a couple of other long term project panners who are very supportive and nice. I think instagram is the best way to show your progress, get encouragement and find other project panners because it's so visual and supportive rather than listing stuff on a no picture feed on reddit.

Would I do this again?
Yes. My makeup collection has expanded since I started blogging and I've become aware of using up liquid and cream products (that have a shorter shelf life than powder) much more often so that they don't go to waste and you get the most use and enjoyment out of them. I also think Finish projects are better than Project pan as you don't actually end up finishing products if you just stop as soon as you hit pan. The gold eye shadow took years to hit pan and its taken me months to finish the whole thing. Finishing products mean you actually use it up rather than have loads of half filled products everywhere.

I do want to do this again so that I actually start using up products but I'd probably do it without a set time limit and will probably post my progress on instagram.

How are your experiences with project pan type challenges? Let me know in the comments.

Cinco de Mayo 10 week update

It's time for my April update Finish 5 by Cinco De Mayo Challenge.
The Finish 5 by Cinco De Mayo is a challenge started by Megan +megsmakeup8. The challenge involves choosing 5 products to finish by May 5th 2015. You can see the first post on this here. and the March update here. I started the challenge on January 21st 2015 (two weeks later than the official start on January 5th.)


 All 5 Items- 5 by Cinco De Mayo Start (March 4th  2015)
The Biggest difference is in the foundation, there's also a slight change in the gold eye shadow pan in the No.7 palette. I think I was being over optimistic about the products I chose, especially since I don't wear make up every day. I think if I were to do this again, I would pick sample sized products.

April 5th 2015

Sleek Oil Free Creme to powder Foundation
I've been using other ways of applying this and found that Real Techniques Precision sponge gives flawless coverage that can be easily built up (the expert face brush can leave brush strokes) but it also uses more product.

Elf  Cream Blush and Contour Palette
Elf blush is better than I expected but does fade towards the end of the day. There's also a generous amount which means it's difficult to hit pan and finish.

Revlon Lip gloss in Pink Crystals
I don't know why they have pink in the name as it's actually a peach tone- perfect for spring. It is sticky but also super shiny too. I've used this a few times although you can't see any difference. I should really keep this on me at all times for a top up. It doesn't help that I'm more of a lipstick fan now.

No. 7 palette
At last you can see a difference in the pan! I don't think I'll be able to use it up by May though, this seems to be a never ending eye shadow. I've given up on the pink shadow in the hopes of concentrating on the gold.

No 7 Cream Eye shadow in Fudge
. I haven't taken a before and after picture because of the colour of the tube means you won't see any difference. I've only used this a few times.

So that's the 10 week/ 3 months update. Have any of you attempted any Make Up Challenges- such as project pan or 5 by Cinco, 5 by Fall etc? Let me know in the comments-I'd love to know how you did and what it was like.

Finish 5 by Cinco De Mayo Challenge Intro

The Finish 5 by Cinco De Mayo is a challenge started by Megan +megsmakeup8. This is a challenge where you choose 5 products to finish by May 5th 2015. I wasn't sure whether to do this or the Finish 7 by Spring (March 20th) but as I would have started a month late I decided on this challenge instead. The reasons why I've decided to take on the Finish 5 by Cinco De Mayo Challenge are that I thought it would be fun- I've never done one of these challenges before, and lately I've realised that my cream and liquid products were being neglected and really they need to be used much more frequently
due to the shorter expiration date. I will do quick updates on the 5th of the each month to show you how I'm doing.  I have tried to pick products that are hopefully realistic to finish- wish me luck!

ELF cream Blusher (duo)
I've used this about 3 times so there's about 98% product left. I love the Nars lookalike palette but I find the bronzer too orange so I only use the blush. Because the blush isn't long wearing it's not my favourite but since it's cream I feel like I need to use it up fairly quickly.

No. 7 Cream Eye Shadow in Fudge
I tend to favour my Maybelline cream tattoos or the Mac cream eye shadows and this falls by the wayside- from what I remember this is fairly long lasting and a lovely bronze/brown colour. I reckon there's about 99-98% product left.

No. 7 Eye Shadow and Blush Palette by Lisa Elderidge
I've had this palette for years and although I love it-it's a great size, with a big mirror and shades I wear regularity (apart from the mint green.) However I feel I have lots of palettes and would like to use this up. It's taken me years to hit pan on the gold shadow and I want to try to finish it, there's about 55% left of the pan. I also want to use up the pink shadow and I think there's about 80% of shadow remaining. These are colours I wear frequently but tend to use them from lots of different palettes.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Pink Crystals 21
I have never used up a lip gloss before - I used to keep them for years (eww) and now I keep them until they smell bad or I bin them after having a cough, cold or flu to prevent re-infection. This is a nice everyday peach/clear shade that I've had for ages so needs to be used up and it will go with everything. Currently there's 80% of product left.

Sleek Foundation in Barley 
It's taken me about 5 months to use up 33% of the product, and I hope to use it up before spring as this is actually not the right shade for me, it's a little too dark and orange for my skin tone. I can get away with wearing this in the winter and at night time but not for the light sunny days of spring.