Beauty Roulette: the Introduction

I have a major addiction to "Project Pan" and "Empties" videos. It's thrilling to see people finishing products up; you can tell what people really love and spend their time on. Yeah, it's a little weird when they throw in depleted tubes of toothpaste and empty packages of snack crackers, but the dried-out mascaras and squeezed clean face masks make it all worthwhile.

With that said, I'm not very good at doing Project Pan myself. I think it's because so many Project Panners force themselves to finish up products they dislike, and that always seemed kinda...counter-intuitive. Not only does it take some of the fun out of makeup (and I do want to have fun with my makeup), but it doesn't seem like much of an achievement. You hated the stuff, so you weren't hoarding multiple tubes of it and you aren't going to repurchase. And it's not fun!

Also, I panic a little when I run low on a favorite; as soon as I'm out, I have to buy another one. But I did want to encourage myself to limit my beauty spending and use my stuff more. I found a "Pan Roulette" video on YouTube, enjoyed it, and decided to adapt the idea for my own needs.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for BOGL Beauty Roulette!

First, I set a time frame for myself. I would like to reach these goals by the end of the year, so December 31, 2015. Second, I picked a reasonable number of products. I know the traditional standard is "pan/finish 10 products," but ehhhhh, it's only 3 months. So I went with five.

The next step was to come up with rules. I came up with some I thought would be easy (like "use half of any product") and some that would be more difficult ("pan an eyeshadow"). Then I cut them up, folded the pieces, shut my eyes, and picked five.

Here's what I got!

1. Finish a body lotion. -- This shouldn't be too difficult for me. While I absolutely hoard lotions, I finish them with some frequency. Just call me "The Lizard Woman."
2. Give something a second chance. -- Eeeeeeh, but I don't wanna! In all seriousness, if I dislike something, I tend to get rid of it quickly.  I do, however, have some stuff hanging out in my purge box that hasn't been blogsaled yet.
3. Finish a deluxe sample. -- Most "deluxe" samples are pretty dinky, so I'll be sure to pick something substantial.
4. Use half of any pencil. -- I like that this one is reasonable and open-ended. Not only am I only aiming for half of the product, but I can use any pencil: eyeliner, lip liner, brow pencils, etc. It's a goal, but a flexible one.
5. Use half of a lipstick. -- This will be the hardest one for me, not because I dislike using lipstick, but because I love to mix it up. Instead of forcing myself to use the same color over and over again, I'll pick something I use very frequently to begin with.

And without further ado, here are the products I picked.

1. Haus of Gloi Body Emulsion in Vice -- I actually love this product. It's more moisturizing than, say, cocoa butter lotion, but it's not quite as thick and emollient as HoG's Pumpkin Butters. The Vice fragrance smells like coffee and s'mores to me, which is delightful. But I'll be glad to use this one because it's fragranced, and I'm slowly but surely trying to switch to mostly fragrance-free lotions. With a fragrance-free lotion, you can layer any perfume on top!
2. Hourglass Film Noir mascara -- This is a really nice mascara, but I don't tend to reach for it as much as my other samples. It'll be good to use it up and really give it the love it deserves!
3. MAC lipstick in Blankety -- Blankety is a popular mauve-nude shade, but I can't remember it ever looking good on me. I tossed it in my organizer a few months ago and haven't paid much attention to it since. I'll give it another shot, but to be honest, I'll be stunned if I can make it work on my skintone.
4. Lipstick Queen Jean Queen -- This and the Lipstick Queen gloss are my go-tos for work, so much so that I actually keep them in my briefcase. They add some color to your face without being overwhelming, and they're so sheer and easy-to-wear that you can put them on without using a mirror. Because I wear this at least once a week and reapply several times throughout the day, I think I'll be able to use up half of this bad boy before the year is out!
5. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Medium Brown -- This probably seems like a cheat, because there's not a ton of product in there and many YouTubers run through them like gangbusters. But Brow Wiz isn't my main brow product--the Shu Uemura Hard Formula pencil is. I mostly use the Anastasia when I'm traveling, or when I need a slightly darker brow...and neither is a common occurrence. Encouraging myself to use this more will help me figure out if I want to repurchase it when it inevitably dies.

And there you have it: my Beauty Roulette products! I'll try to keep you guys posted throughout the coming months. Let me know if you plan on trying this yourself!