Starting a pan/no-buy
I come to you in mild shock and shame, fellow panners 🫣😭 I’ve lurked here for a while and was finally inspired to tackle my own product accumulation. Over the past 2-3 years I went through a period of intense stress and life change, and definitely coped through a lot of little dopamine purchases. At the same time, I was surviving nursing school and dealing with depression so I never actually followed through on using most of these products up. Partially because of zero time and motivation to prioritize my self care.
Doing this inventory was honestly eye opening especially realizing how constantly I’m being sold products through social media and “self care” content. K Beauty, Curly Girl Method, Lush, dermatology youtubers, brand name influencers all got their teeth in me... here we are.
Current inventory:
- 33 face masks
- 20 bath salts/bubble bath products
- 41 bath bombs/bubble bars
- 20 soaps/shower gels
- 15 scrubs/massage bars
- 14 lotions/body creams
- 8 shampoos
- 8 conditioners
- 15 stylers/treatments
- 7 cleansers
- 9 moisturizers
- 8 sunscreens
- 13 makeup eye products
- 25 lip products
- 30 fragrances/perfumes/body sprays
- plus assorted oils, deodorants, hair removal products, and skincare extras (this doesn't include things I've given away or just thrown out)
After a little research, a conservative estimated retail value of roughly $2,000–2,500 😅
I had already started working through my products a few months ago, but haven't saved my empties and hadn't laid it all out to really see the volume of products I still have left. My goal is to pan 90% of this by the end of the year and go on a replacement-only no buy where I don’t purchase anything unless I truly don’t already own something that fills that need. I think my hardest categories will definitely be hair stylers and makeup, mostly because I’m slowly accepting that I’m actually a pretty low maintenance/no or low makeup kind of person 😂 I'm mildly concerned about the cosmetics because its all really old, I was planning on saving the lippies but tossing any open eye or skin products? The lipsticks don't smell off. Bacteria on my skin or eyes freaks me out though. I'm really inspired by this sub to actually use and enjoy the products I already own, while becoming more mindful about my purchasing habits and self care practices moving forward.