Kevin Several years back, there was a thing going around YouTube and other sites called “Project Pan,” or “Project Use it Up.” I’ve also heard it called an “Empties Project,” too, and that’s the term I decided on using when I started my own, and will use on this blog. The idea behind this is to use up products like makeup, and the goal was to get to the bottom, thereby exposing that little silver pan doohickey it comes in. It’s my understanding that it evolved to include other things beyond makeup, and I privately embarked on my own Empties Project about two to three years ago. I had amassed enough of a stockpile of products over the years, and I’ve decided they’d been living in my house for far too long.
It was time to use them up, love them to bits in the process, and let it go. And also keep notes of what I liked, what sucked, and what I hope to find in a similar product if it’s no longer on the market.
As some of you probably guessed or picked up on at this point, I’m all about getting the most mileage out of my money, and I want you to be the same way. All that money that went into acquiring those products in my stash was only going to waste the longer they lived there, so this was long overdue. After all, what good is a product if you’re only gonna keep it in the house without using it?
I knew there was no way I could use up all of what was in my pile without help, so I donated some duplicates I had (unopened and unused, obviously!) to a local charity for people with disabilities, and took it as a tax write-off. If you’ve got a stash of products similar in size and scope to what I’ve described, maybe you could donate some of what you haven’t opened or used to a charity near and dear to you.
Over the course of my project, I’ve come across some things I ended up being allergic to, and found out the hard way. If that’s the case for you too, by all means cut your losses with it, yesterday! No money spent, coupon used, or Ibotta deal is worth risking your health over, I promise.
With that being said, my Empties Project status report for November 2020 includes what’s in the picture, and I’m going in no particular order.
Clairol Textures and Tones hair color: I’ve found this formulation to work much better than what I’ve used in the past. The developer bottle’s clean as a whistle, because I use one of those little bowl containers hairstylists use for mixing colors in, instead of the bottle. This way, I get more out of it, and have an easier time with the process. I also love the conditioner scent, and it totally reminds me of summer. Will rebuy for sure.
Buttload of tealights for my wax melter, and a package of scented tealights I unearthed from a cleanout around Thanksgiving. The scented tealights came in plastic vessels, which I definitely didn’t like, and it’s probably why they went unused for so long until now. The scent throw wasn’t that great, and to be honest, the so-called cinnamon scented ones REEKED. I doubt these are even still on the market, but I’d definitely explore other options for scented varieties going forward. The metal tealights came from Target, and they were smaller than I was expecting for sure. I’d used up the package I’d gotten from Pier 1 Imports (RIP, we hardly knew ye.) several years back, and I remember them being a decent value for the money. They were also a larger size, closer to the size of those plastic holders shown. The ones from Target, however, I’d say they were decent considering the price point. I wish these burned a bit more evenly, though. Once I get through these, I’ll see what else they got and try them.
Avon holiday-themed hand cream. I liked the scent, but I’ve got other things I need to get through before I add something like this to my shopping list. I may or may not rebuy this one, and I’ll decide once I get any similar products done.
Avon Luscious Temptations in Ravishing Rose, two of them. This is long discontinued, but both of them were used off and on, like I’d misplaced one and found the other, and started using it instead. I ended up misplacing that one too, and found them in my recent cleanout. I decided to use them as room sprays instead, and while the scent’s staying power wasn’t much, considering it was a body spray instead of an EDT or EDP, the scent itself was nice. Its’ discontinuation made my decision to rebuy or not that much easier.
Caress bar soap. Nice classic scent, will rebuy when the time comes, and will also add it to my shopping list the next time I work on a haul specifically to donate to charity.
Method hand soap in Tropical Cloud, limited edition. I found this on the clearance rack at Target, which is really too bad. The scent definitely says “summer,” and I’ll rebuy this if I see it again. I hope the company considers keeping it in their product lineup, even if it’s seasonal, like the McRib, egg nog, or Crystal Pepsi, haha.
Now it’s your turn. What have you used up recently? What did or didn’t you like about it? Sound off below, and maybe we’ll learn about some products to try later on.
