What Is Project Pan? The Complete Beginner's Guide | Pandr

If you've ever opened a bathroom drawer and felt a wave of guilt wash over you — three half-used moisturizers, five lip glosses in suspiciously similar shades, a serum you bought because a TikTok told you to — you're not alone. Most of us have more products than we could reasonably use in a year. Some of us have more than we could use in five.

Project Pan is the antidote to all of that. It's a self-directed challenge from the beauty community where the goal is simple: use up what you already own before buying more.

No rules committee. No sign-up fee. Just you, your stash, and a commitment to actually finish something for once.

Where Did Project Pan Come From?

The term "pan" comes from the moment you hit the metal or plastic pan at the bottom of a pressed powder product — eyeshadow, bronzer, highlighter, blush. That little circle of silver peeking through pigment is proof that you actually used the thing. In a world where most makeup products get abandoned long before they're empty, hitting pan is a genuine achievement.

The concept grew organically in beauty communities on YouTube and Reddit throughout the mid-2010s. Creators started filming "project pan" updates where they'd select a handful of products and commit to finishing them. The subreddit r/PanPorn became a home for satisfying photos of fully used-up products — empty tubes squeezed flat, eyeshadow pans with clean circles worn through them, moisturizer jars scraped spotless.

It turns out there's something deeply satisfying about finishing things. Who knew.

Why Do People Do Project Pan?

People come to Project Pan for different reasons, but a few themes come up again and again:

Saving money. The average beauty consumer spends hundreds of dollars a year on products, many of which overlap or go unused. When you commit to finishing what you have, you stop impulse buying. Your wallet notices.

Reducing waste. Beauty packaging is notoriously hard to recycle. The less you buy, the less you throw away. Project Pan isn't a zero-waste movement per se, but the mindset aligns naturally.

Breaking the consumption cycle. There's a dopamine hit that comes with buying new products. Project Pan helps you find that same satisfaction in using things up instead. It rewires the reward system a little.

Actually learning what works for you. When you use a product daily for weeks or months, you develop a genuine opinion about it. You learn whether that foundation actually oxidizes by noon, whether that serum does anything at all. It makes you a smarter consumer.

The community. Posting progress updates, celebrating empties, commiserating over products that never seem to shrink — there's a real community around this. Subreddits like r/PanPorn and r/MakeupRehab are full of people cheering each other on.

How to Start Your First Project Pan

Starting is the easy part. Here's how to do it:

1. Pick Your Products

Choose anywhere from 5 to 20 products you want to use up. For your first project pan, lean toward products you actually enjoy using — this isn't supposed to be punishment. Pick things that are already partially used if you want some quick wins early on.

A good starter mix might look like:

A moisturizer or primer that's half full
A lip product you like but always forget about
An eyeshadow palette you haven't touched in months
A body lotion gathering dust on your shelf
A sample or mini that's been sitting in a drawer

2. Document Your Starting Point

Take photos of each product at the beginning. Weigh them if you want to get precise (a kitchen scale works great for this). Mark the fill level on bottles with a small piece of tape. You'll want to see your progress later — it's the most motivating part.

This is where a tool like Pandr comes in handy. Instead of juggling photos in your camera roll and notes scattered across three apps, you can log everything in one place and actually see your progress over time.

3. Set a Timeframe

Some people do monthly project pans, others commit to a full year. A good starting point is three to six months. Long enough to make real progress, short enough that it doesn't feel like a life sentence.

4. Use Your Products

This sounds obvious, but the key is building your selected products into your daily routine. Put them front and center on your vanity or shelf. Move everything else to a drawer or storage bin. Out of sight, out of mind works both ways.

5. Track and Share

Update your progress regularly — weekly or monthly, whatever feels right. Take comparison photos. Celebrate the small wins. That body lotion went from half full to a quarter full? That counts. Post your updates to r/PanPorn or share them with friends.

Common Project Pan Formats

The community has developed several structured formats over the years:

Classic Project Pan: Pick a set number of products and commit to finishing them in a set timeframe.
Rolling Pan: Start with a set number (say, 10). When you finish one, add a new product to the rotation. The project never technically ends.
12-Pan: Pick 12 products at the start of the year. Try to finish them all by December.
Pan That Palette: Choose one eyeshadow palette and use only that palette until you hit pan on every shade (or as many as possible).
Seasonal Pan: Pick products to focus on each season — three months at a time.

Each format has its own vibe. We wrote a full breakdown of every challenge type if you want to explore them all.

Tips for Actually Succeeding

Having watched (and participated in) a lot of project pans, here's what separates the people who finish from the people who quietly abandon the challenge in month two:

Start small. Five products is better than twenty when you're just beginning. You can always add more later.

Include products you like. Project Pan should not be a hate-pan marathon (using up products you dislike just to get rid of them). Sprinkle in things you genuinely enjoy. And if you're stuck on how to use something up, these double-duty hacks can give a product a whole new life.

Track your progress visually. Before-and-after photos are incredibly motivating. Watching a lipstick slowly wear down to a nub or seeing the pan emerge in a bronzer gives you a tangible sense of accomplishment. Pandr was built specifically for this kind of visual tracking.

Give yourself grace. Some products take forever to use up. A single eyeshadow can last years of daily use. It's okay to not finish everything. Progress is progress.

Engage with the community. Post your updates. Comment on other people's progress. The social aspect makes it sticky in a way that solo tracking doesn't.

Be honest about what you won't use. If a product genuinely doesn't work for you — it breaks you out, the shade is wrong, the formula is terrible — don't force it. Destash it responsibly (give it to a friend, check if a local shelter accepts beauty donations) and move on.

The Bigger Picture

Project Pan sits at an interesting intersection of self-care, sustainability, and mindful consumption. It's not about deprivation. It's about paying attention to what you already have and making intentional choices about what comes next.

The beauty industry spends billions of dollars every year convincing us we need the next product. Project Pan is a quiet rebellion against that. It says: actually, I have enough. Let me enjoy it.

And honestly? Once you hit pan on that one eyeshadow you've been working on for six months, the satisfaction is better than any new-product dopamine hit. The folks on r/PanPorn will tell you the same thing.

Whether you're trying to save money, reduce waste, or just get more intentional about your routine, Project Pan is worth trying. Start with five products. Give yourself three months. See what happens.

You might surprise yourself.

Pandr is the beauty product tracker built for the Project Pan community. Join the waitlist to be the first to try it.