All About Project Pan—A Decluttering Hack for Makeup

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Save money, reduce waste, & declutter your makeup collection

Co-authored by Amy Bobinger, BA Reviewed by Kelly Chu

Last Updated: September 16, 2025 Fact Checked

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What is Project Pan?

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Starting Your Own Project Pan

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Benefits

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What to Avoid

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Origin

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Final Thoughts

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Video

Project Pan is a beauty challenge that encourages you to finish using the beauty products you already have before you buy new ones. It’s all about mindful consumption, and we’re here with everything you need to know to get started—how to do it, why you should, mistakes to avoid, and expert tips from professional makeup artists and organizers.

What is TikTok’s Project Pan movement?

Project Pan is a movement within the beauty community that challenges participants to completely use up beauty products they already own before buying new ones. The goal of the project is to encourage slower consumption and mindful purchasing habits.

Section 1 of 6:

What is Project Pan?

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Project Pan is a mindfulness beauty challenge. During the challenge, participants are encouraged to finish the beauty products they already have before buying new ones. The name comes from the term “hitting pan”—or using enough of a product like eyeshadow or blush to see the silver pan underneath the product. But Project Pan can encompass any beauty products, including makeup, skincare, lotion, and nail polish.^{[1]
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- The goal of Project Pan is to reduce waste, declutter, and be more mindful about beauty purchases. It’s a challenge that can help overcome the “more is more” mindset fueled by beauty brands’ aggressive marketing campaigns.
- Participants often show off their Project Pan progress on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
Meet the wikiHow Experts

Kelly Chu is the lead makeup artist and educator for Soyi Makeup and Hair, based out of San Francisco.

Keith Bartolomei is a professional organizer and certified KonMari consultant. He is also the owner of Zen Habitat, a consulting business.

Daniel Vann is the Creative Director of Seattle-based Daredevil Cosmetics and a licensed aesthetician and makeup educator.

Katya Gudaeva is a professional makeup artist and the founder of Bridal Beauty Agency in Seattle.

Stephanie Navarro is a professional makeup artist and hair stylist based in Los Angeles.

Section 2 of 6:

How to Start Your Own Project Pan

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Separate your beauty items into categories. To organize your beauty products, makeup artist Kelly Chu recommends, “Take all of your makeup products out and throw out anything that’s broken, expired, or that you haven’t used in a long time. Organize the products into groups, putting similar products together.”^{[2]
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Kelly Chu
Professional Makeup Artist

Expert Interview} For instance, you might group together face moisturizers, foundations, eyeshadows, blushes and lipsticks.
- Organizing your beauty products will help you see what you have. This can be helpful when you’re deciding what to prioritize during your Project Pan. For instance, if you have a lot of eyeshadow palettes, you’ll know you don’t need to buy any eyeshadow until you’ve used what you have.
- Be honest with yourself as you’re looking at your stash. Professional organizer Keith Bartolomei recommends having rules for yourself before you start organizing: “Decide what your criteria will be for deciding whether something goes or stays.”^{[3]
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  Keith Bartolomei
  Professional Organizer
  
  Expert Interview} If there are any gently-used products you really dislike, consider giving them away or donating them—or just toss them (especially old or cream-based products).
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Check the expiration date on each product. Toss out any makeup in your stash that’s past the expiration date. If your product doesn’t have an expiration date, take note of the “period after opening”—it will usually be a small picture of a jar with something like “12m” or “24m” written inside. This is how long a product is good for after the packaging is opened.^{[4]
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- How do I know when my makeup is expired? According to makeup artist Daniel Vann, “Creams expire in about two years, and powders can last longer. But at some point, your makeup changes—it might break apart or it might not stay on as long, or the color might change. If you notice any of those, it’s time to replace it, regardless of the expiration date.”^{[5]
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  Daniel Vann
  Licensed Aesthetician
  
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Keep out one item in each category. Think about all the products you use in your daily routine, then keep one of each of those products. Prioritize products that are close to expiring, and try to pick products that complement each other—like an eyeshadow palette, blush, and lipstick that all look good together. Put the items you choose in a bin or a makeup bag, and you have your Project Pan!^{[6]
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- If you have a favorite product, use that first! Most people find it easier to complete a Project Pan if they pick beauty products they really love—especially when they’re just starting out.
- Feel free to expand beyond just makeup. A lot of participants also include skincare, haircare, and nail products in their Project Pans.
- Stash your other products in a drawer or bin. If you can’t see the products, you’ll be less tempted to use them—and more likely to get all the way through the items in your pan project.
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Commit to using your "project" products until they’re completely gone. Every time you put on makeup, reach for the items in your Project Pan bag. Avoid using items from the rest of your stash as much as possible, and challenge yourself to replace finished items with another one from your stash—only buy new items when you’re completely out.
- You set the rules: Some people consider a Project Pan to be successful if they just hit pan (see the silver pan at the bottom of a product), while others prefer to use the entire product until it’s gone.
- It’s fine to toss a product if it expires before you finish using it, like if the texture changes or it starts to smell.
- If there’s a certain look you’re going for, it’s okay to use non-Project Pan products occasionally—but the more often you use the products in your pan project, the faster you’ll notice progress.
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Get creative repurposing the products in your pan project. One of the fun things about Project Pan is that it challenges you to think of new ways to use up your products. For instance, if there’s an eyeshadow shade that you just don’t like, it might work well as a brow tint or a shimmery highlight. A lip color you don’t love might turn out to be the perfect cream blush.
- Let it go: If you really dislike a product, give yourself permission to toss it and replace it with another item from your stash.
Not only can you track your wins this way, but you can also jump into the #ProjectPan community online. This can be a fun way to share your progress, stay motivated, and find creative ways to use products. TikTok is the most popular social media platform for documenting this project.

Section 3 of 6:

Benefits of Doing the Project Pan Challenge

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You’ll save money and be a more mindful beauty shopper. Participating in the Project Pan movement is a great way to save money on your beauty routine. Instead of making impulsive purchasing decisions based on influencers and marketing campaigns, you only purchase new products once you run out of the old ones.^{[7]
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- This slower approach to shopping means you’ll have plenty of time to make a conscious choice about the brands and products you want to support.
- Purchasing less often can also leave more room in your beauty budget to splurge on higher-end products—especially because you know you’ll get the full value out of them by using them up completely!
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You’ll get a genuine sense of accomplishment. You might be surprised how much you enjoy Project Pan. Finishing a whole beauty product might seem like a chore at first, but a lot of Project Panners get a genuine thrill out of seeing that first glint of pan under an eyeshadow or the first clear streaks appearing down the side of a foundation bottle.
- Project Pan is more than a fun community challenge—it’s a way to shift your mindset about beauty products and appreciate the art of makeup.
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You can help reduce waste. Buying more products than you can possibly use wastes more than just the product itself—the makeup industry generates an enormous amount of plastic waste every year, and it’s estimated that only about 9% of that is actually recycled.^{[8]
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Research source} By participating in the Project Pan movement, you’re doing your part to help reduce overconsumption and excess plastic waste in the beauty industry.^{[9]
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- As you become a more mindful beauty shopper, you might even decide to prioritize sustainable fashion brands to help expand your impact even more.
- You may also start applying the Project Pan mindset to non-beauty products, like household cleaners or clothes.
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You’ll declutter if you have a big makeup stash. Once you finish one product, you can pull another one from your stash and start working through it. It might take a while, but over time, your excess makeup stash will start to shrink, and you’ll be left with less clutter.^{[10]
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- “Less is more,” says professional makeup artist Katya Gudaeva. “The more products you have, the harder it is to keep everything organized.”^{[11]
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  Katya Gudaeva
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  Expert Interview}
As you repeatedly use the same products, you’ll learn new little tricks, like how to apply a certain shade of blush to flatter your face, or which eyeshadows look best layered on top of each other. You may even use your products in new, creative ways. Over time, this could help you be a better makeup artist and deepen your love for the art.

Section 4 of 6:

Common Project Pan Mistakes to Avoid

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Setting unrealistic deadlines Unless a product is going to expire soon, don’t put yourself on a strict timeline for how fast you have to use up a product. Just consistently use the product until it’s gone—it’s more about steady progress than speed here, so keep a long-term mindset.
- Over time, you’ll get a feel for how quickly you go through Project Pan items, so you might be able to estimate how long it will take you to hit pan.
Stick to one product per category at a time. If you try to pan your whole stash at once, you’re probably going to feel overwhelmed. Progress will be slow, and you might even have trouble staying motivated.
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Forcing yourself to use products you hate. Project Pan is about mindful consumption, but that doesn’t mean it should feel like a chore. Keep the joy in your beauty routine by using products you really enjoy—if you really dislike a product, donate it or toss it out.
- Some people find it a fun challenge to find new ways to use products that are just meh. If that’s a part of the challenge you enjoy, fully embrace it!
Project Pan feels easier when everything’s neatly organized and decluttered. Makeup artist Stephanie Navarro says, “Less is more. Think about what you really love and use every day. The less you have to sort through, the faster you can apply your makeup and get out the door.”^{[12]
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Stephanie Navarro
Professional Makeup Artist

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Section 5 of 6:

How did Project Pan start?

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Project Pan dates back to at least 2015. That’s when the Reddit sub r/ProjectPan was created. Over the next few years, the trend grew, gaining major traction around 2020. More recently, the trend has exploded on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, with more and more beauty aficionados joining the mindfulness challenge.
- Project Panners regularly post videos showing the progress they’ve made in panning their favorite products.
- Some people criticize Project Pan by saying they’ve done something similar their whole lives. But anyone can benefit from the Project Pan mindset—even if you usually finish a product before replacing it, Project Pan might challenge you to get one or two more uses before tossing it out.

Section 6 of 6:

Final Thoughts

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Project Pan is a decluttering hack that can help you spend more mindfully. It’s a unique beauty trend that can help you cut back on how much excess makeup you’re stashing, plus you’ll save money and gain new appreciation for the products you already have. It’s good for the environment, and you can get a real sense of accomplishment by participating. We’re here for it!