Admit it—your vanity is probably packed with half-used lotions, orphaned eyeshadow palettes, and a bunch of lip products of almost the same shades and color stories. No judgement, though. Mine is pretty much the same: four liquid blushes in the same shade of pink, eyeshadow palettes with the same theme, concealer products kept “just in case”—products found in places they were never meant to live in.
Blame it on the algorithm, or blame it on those enticing monthly sales on Shopee or Lazada. One thing is certain: more Filipinas are buying beauty products faster than they can use them up.
Add to cart here, enter a livestream to snag coupons there, and suddenly, your shelf looks like a beauty corner usually seen in malls—less a curated collection, more of a hoarder’s dirty little secret. It’s not that we hate the products—it’s how much we love buying and collecting the newest makeup releases!
Enter Project Pan, the beauty landscape’s own version of a sit-down intervention—without the crying and all that. Born out of beauty forums and later popularized by YouTubers and content creators, it’s the practice of using a product all the way down to the pan (a.k.a. seeing the bottom of your powder or blush), before buying a new one.
It’s not about guilt-tripping yourself about your shopping habits or swearing off online shopping for good. It’s about intention—finishing the products you already have, rediscovering old favorites, and maybe giving your wallet a breather after all that heavy lifting.
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For content creator Catalina Sy, popularly known on TikTok as matchainnit, the habit goes back further than any TikTok trend. “I think it’s just ingrained in me ever since I was younger,” she said. “Growing up in a household where we’re taught to finish our things, to use our things. I couldn’t buy everything I wanted, so as I grew up, I became very particular with the products I bought. I made sure I had the right items, and I’d just be happy with them already.”
That mindset shows up in how she shops today, too—it’s basically delayed gratification as a beauty strategy. “I always tell myself that I can afford to buy a product, but I can also afford to wait,” she shared. “When I take the time and really delay something, I’m able to focus on my product, and by doing that, I’m able to see how long it takes to finish something.”
It also explains a pattern most Project Pan practitioners will notice: some products are just built to be used up faster than others. For Catalina, it’s lip products—balms, oils, lipsticks—that disappear fastest, simply because she uses them every day. Blushes, on the other hand, can take almost forever, since most blushes these days only need a little to go a long way with every application.
If you’re picking out a starter product for your own Project Pan, something you use daily—a lip balm, a moisturizer, a sunscreen—is usually a faster and more convincing way to go about it, and it’s better than something you only reach for occasionally.
Of course, staying committed to it isn’t easy. Catalina only started posting about her Project Pan progress in early 2025, which helped her stay accountable to her commitment to it.
“With Project Pan, you really get to know a product—you’ll eventually get bored at some point,” Catalina explains. “I think it’s really about the mindset that comes with it that you’re going to do Project Pan with patience and discipline.”
For someone working in the beauty industry, though, that discipline gets tested even further, especially with a steady stream of PR packages arriving weekly. “In beauty content creation, it can be counted as work, especially with PR involved. And I consider myself very stubborn when it comes to it, because I continue to use the products [on my Project Pan].”
The upside is she is watching that habit inspire others—like a ripple effect. “I feel very happy that I’m able to inspire other people to finish their products,” Catalina admits, noting how her community has grown through sharing their emptied products online. “No matter how normal it might seem, it feels really good that other people are inspired by that.”
There’s also an unexpected emotional layer to it all—Project Pan means sitting with a product long enough to actually get attached to it. “With products I love, I just use them all the time,” she says. “But when it’s about to finish, it’s like a bittersweet goodbye. I still enjoy the time I spent with it, though.” As for the products she dislikes—she simply doesn’t keep any in her rotation to begin with.
“They already think Project Pan is a punishment,” she explains. “But why do I have to punish myself further by using products I hate? So, in that process, I’ll just use the products that I actually like.”
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How to Start Your Own Project Pan: A Step-by-Step Guide
So for anyone eyeing their own overflowing vanities and considering doing a “Project Pan” of their own, here’s how to start:
Start your Project Pan with a daily-use product
To make things easier, starting with a product you already use every day is the best way to ease yourself into it. It could be a sunscreen, a lip balm, a powder, a favorite blush, or go-to concealer—giving you quick and motivating progress.
Set a small, achievable Project Pan goal
Goals don’t have to be too ambitious. Whether it’s finishing a product before your next Shopee sale or emptying two or three items, having a solid, concrete goal helps.
Track your empties to stay accountable
One of the best ways to record your progress is to track every single product you’ve emptied out. It could be on a separate notebook, your Notes app, a template from Notion, or simply just lining everything out before throwing it away.
Skip products you don’t like—no exceptions
As Catalina puts it, Project Pan isn’t meant to be a punishment—there’s no rule that says you have to finish a product you never enjoyed using in the first place. To dispose of them, you can give them to donation drives or ask any of your friends if they want it.
And if there’s one piece of advice Catalina wants every beginner to know, it’s this: “You’ll see the progress, no matter how little. So, don’t be afraid to just start, and that’s all the motivation you need.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Project Pan is the practice of using a beauty product all the way down to the pan or bottom before purchasing a replacement. Popularized on TikTok by creators like Catalina Sy (matchainnit), it encourages finishing existing products instead of buying new ones impulsively.
Beauty editors and Project Pan practitioners recommend starting with a product used daily, such as a lip balm, moisturizer, or sunscreen, since these disappear fastest. Daily-use items build visible progress and motivation faster than occasional products like blush or eyeshadow.
No. Project Pan practitioners, including creators like Catalina Sy, agree that disliked products shouldn’t be forced to completion — doing so turns the practice into a punishment rather than a sustainable habit. Instead, unwanted products can be donated to drives or given to friends.
Many track empties using a dedicated notebook, a phone Notes app, or a Notion template, logging each product as it’s finished and discarded. Sharing progress publicly, as creator Catalina Sy does on TikTok, also helps practitioners stay accountable to the habit long-term.
Usage frequency determines how quickly a product empties during Project Pan. Daily-use items like lip balms and lipsticks finish fastest, while products like blush take far longer since only a small amount is needed per application, extending their lifespan considerably.
