Although I love trying new products, in recent years my spending has gotten out of hand. Lately, I’ve been trying to stop my impulse shopping through meticulous inventory tracking, project panning, and intermittent shopping fasts. Keep reading to learn more about my 2018 Rolling Project Pan + Declutter finale.
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How to do I track my collection?
Starting in 2016, I began the arduous task of tracking my beauty collection through a comprehensive beauty inventory spreadsheet. Why? By using my spreadsheet, I am better equipped to track what I’m spending, what I’m finishing, and what I’m decluttering.
Also, by tracking my beauty collection, I am able to avoiding purchasing unintentional dupes. Moreover, my inventory system clues me in to what I’m spending and what money is being wasted. Through my system, I log whether products are opened or unopened. Additionally, I track the volume and value of products I’ve finished, donated, decluttered, or sold
As a data-minded person, I geek out over my ability to log the changes to my collection using pivot tables, charts, and graphs.
What are my beauty inventory system rules?
First, to accurately track how my collection ebbs and flows, I use the number of products that I owned at the start of the year as my base point. For example, for example, I ended 2017 with 192 products. Therefore, that number became the base number for calculating my progress in 2018. As a result, if I finished 10 products in 2018 that would indicate that I used up 5.2% of my collection
However, there are obvious cons to this method of tracking. First, obviously this method of tracking doesn’t account for fluctuations in the size of my collection during the year. Obvious influences on month-over-month changes to my collection include:
- Finishing & repurchasing products I consistently use
- Receiving gifts from friends, family, and coworkers
- Acquiring freebies from events or rewards programs
2018 Rolling Project Pan Goals
At the start of 2018, I set several goals for myself in terms of the number and percentage of products that I wanted to finish by the end of the year. Overall, my base goal was to finish or declutter 20% of my collection. Said differently, I aimed to finish 40 products by the end of the year. However, my ”reach” goal was to finish 50% of my collection (90 products).
So how’d I do? Keep reading for my 2018 rolling project pan finale results
2018 End of Year Beauty Empties
2018 Rolling Project Pan Results
As a whole, I have mixed feelings on my 2018 rolling project pan finale results. Although I am proud that I finished or decluttered more than 90 products, I am sad to discover that my collection didn’t decrease in size. In fact, it increased by 13 products! How did this happen?
- After attending a beauty convention earlier this year, I received a TON of free products.
- I repurchased items that I regularly use, such as shampoo or skincare.
The above being said, the biggest reason my collection grew was due to my old shopping habits creating back in. After a year of very strict shopping limits, I let the desire to try new products and brands overtake my reasoning not to shop. Moreover, my ”need” to review products enabled me to purchase new products without feeling guilty.
Nevertheless, I am satisfied with the sheer volume of products that left my collection. Please see the below for the complete breakdown:
- Finished: 114 products / $1,321.00
- Returned: 0 products / $0 .00
- Sold: 12 products / $138.00
- Give Away: 46 products / $431.00
- Decluttered: 68 products / $1,325.00
Total Gone in 2018: 240 products / $3,215.00
2019 Beauty Collection: 206 products / $4,075
Final Thoughts on my 2018 Rolling Project Pan Finale
Overall, the biggest benefit to tracking my rolling project pan progress is my ability to learn more about myself. For example, by taking a deeper look at my 2018 rolling project pan finale, I am able to truly assess the things I purchased and the products I finished or decluttered. By doing this, I can hopefully void making similar mistakes i the future.
The below summarizes some of my main learnings this year:
1 | If I don’t like something, I don’t need to finish it
I’m done torturing myself using products that don’t work for me or don’t inspire me just for the sake of finishing them.
2 | I’m not obligated to keep gifts or freebies
It’s okay to let things go – especially when there are others who could benefit from my donations.
3 | My beauty collection is never going to be conventionally “minimal”
I truly love this industry. I love playing with new products and testing new formulas. Therefore, I need to stop trying to fit myself into someone else’s mold. However, I may want to consider participating in another No Buy.
Beyond my 2018 Rolling Project Pan, my ultimate goal is to develop better shopping habits. I want to curate a refined collection of beauty products. I’m tired of looking at and using products that I don’t like using. Moreover, I never want to feel ”obligated” to finish anything.
In the end, I want to waste less money on things that I do not need. Instead, I want to spend my money on experiences and things that bring a deeper level of ”richness” to my life. I do not want to be a ”makeup collector” or revert to addictive making buying tendencies.
Related Posts
Product Empties: Mid-Year Haircare Empties, Mid-Year Makeup Empties, Mid-Year Skincare Empties, and Summer Empties (July, August & September!)
Declutters: Saying Goodbye to $200 Worth of Skincare
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Are you a beauty addict like me? Do you participate in project panning? Please let me know in the comments below.
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I am SO impressed that you keep a spreadsheet for all of this! I can barely keep my life together with one. Your ultimate goal is probably the best way to achieve some sort of makeup minimalism in the long run – and better for your wallet. I’m still so frickin’ impressed by this.
Alex| http:/californiapollution.com/
Thank you so much! 💜 I definitely want to reduce my collection in the long run – but it’s so difficult because I love makeup! 🙈
This is amazing, LP! I admire all your hard work. Once again, I really need to work on this myself! I go in phases where I overbuy and then have way too much.
Thanks, Jennifer! ☺️ Now I’m trying to save for a vacation so hopefully that will be good motivation for me to purchase less.
That’s a wonderful goal!
Wow, it;s so cool that you keep track of all of your beauty products like this! I’m terrible at throwing products away even if I don’t like them/don’t use them. You’re right though, you don’t need to force yourself to use a product you don’t like. Great post!
Thank you so much! 💜 I really hate wasting things, but hopefully I’ll make smarter purchases in the future!
So I admit I’m a very, VERY basic make up purchase but reading about how you track your collection is so interesting! If everything in your collection is in use then hey, keep enjoying what you’ve got. It seems like you did a good job recognizing the things you didn’t want so don’t beat yourself up over growing your collection is you’re putting everything to use!
Thank you so much for this reminder! 💜 It is such a tricky balance for me because I love cosmetics but I want to be smarter with what I purchase.
I love that you have a spreadsheet for this!! I think I need to do the same as you. I love makeup and I buy so many products compulsively. I seem to buy a lot of concealer, so my task this year is to actually get through the ones I have and finish them before buying a new one! I also have the same problem with lipstick and eyeliner 😂 I think it’s great you’ve been working on this and identifying how much money you actually spend on makeup!!
Thanks Kat! 💜 It’s eye opening once you start to pay attention closely!
Uhm, this is going to sound weird AF, but I’d be interested in having a look at your spreadsheet.
Also, where/how do you sell products? Is there a way to sell second hand makeup or?
Hah! I have been thinking about uploading a template to Google Docs for others to download! ☺️
I sell gently used makeup on Poshmark, but there are other platforms like Mercari and Glambot where you can sell, too. I’ve never sold anything to make a profit, but rather to recoup some of the losses and (hopefully) reduce waste by re-homing items that are in good condition.
I’m hoping to eventually put together a post that outlines all the different places where people can sell or donate used makeup!
I adore your organizational methods with tracking everything. It gives me so much inspiration. I’m hoping to get that organized once I start doing reviews- if I ever successfully break into that for my blog 😂.
But seriously, amazing post! Props, girl!😊
Thanks girl! 💜 I always feel so out of place when I’m not totally organized, but I wasn’t always at this level! But gotta keep organized in order to make sure I’m rotating and working through any new items!
That’s so awesome. You’re like a super woman over there! 😊
Girl I LOVED reading this!! Wow you extremely inspired me on doing the same. I have a huge makeup collection and it’s just impossible to empty products (well I do empty products but for example, I never empty a lipstick because I have so many of them).. I would be very interested in your spreadsheet so I can use it to track my spending etc.
Awe thank you!!! <3 I'm so glad this is motivating to you – and trust me, I understand having too many products to work through / hard products to work through in general (like eyeshadows, lipsticks)!
I will be sure to work on an updated spreadsheet post. 😀
I can’t wait!! ❤️
GORGEOUS!!!
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Thank you so much, gal. Checking this out now.
😘😘😘