Like makeup, but are somewhat clueless when it comes to all the ins and outs? You’re not alone. Even with the abundance of makeup gurus and tutorials you can find on the interwebs these days, makeup can be confusing! How do you know what is right for you? How do you know if you should use a stick or a bottle concealer? Do eyelash curlers really make a difference? What’s the deal with sponges? In our new Clueless Beauty series, we’ll dig in and try to demystify different types of makeup and makeup related tools. But first, where better to start than with the super basics. What order should you do your makeup in? We’re about to tell you.

Step 1: Clean and Moisturize

Before you even begin to apply your makeup, you need to make sure your canvas is ready. Having a clean and moisturized face can actually help your makeup last longer. For best results, try to do this step about 10 minutes before you begin to do your makeup voodoo so the moisturizer has time to work its own magic.

Step 2: Primer

Primers come in a whole bunch of varieties. Some are geared towards skin type; like oily or dry. Others are more geared towards skin tone, or helping your skin appear more luminous overall. But the one thing they all do, no matter what type you go with, is take some of the workload off the shoulders of your foundation. Primer will help to even out your complexion, help control pore size, and keep help your makeup last longer.

Step 3: Eyes And Brows or Foundation

Here’s where things get a bit tricky. The order you do your makeup in next has two schools of thought. The first school of thought says go with foundation first. Foundation does exactly what it sounds like, builds a foundation to layer the rest of your makeup. It evens out your complexion further and makes sure future layers don’t cake. The second school of thought says that you should do your eye makeup first (shadows, liners, mascara, and eyebrow pencils). The thought process behind that is that sometimes when you apply eye makeup, some of it ends up falling under your eyes or on your cheeks, thus smudging your foundation and needing touch-ups. Or you might draw your wings a little funky and go outside your desired lines. Our verdict? If you wear a lot of eye makeup do it first. If not, go with the foundation.

Step 4: Concealer

If you’ve got a few trouble spots left that need a bit more coverage, now is the time to go in with your concealer.

Step 5: Bronzer, Blush, And Highlighter

Now that you’ve got your skin looking nice and even, this is the when you want to add your pops of color. Add your bronzer for a bit of contouring, some blush for a healthy glow, and a touch of shimmer to the high points of your face with a little highlighter.

Step 6: Lip Color

Whether you’re a fan of a well-painted pout, or just like to add a bit of shine with gloss, your lips should be next to last. Lip products can be known to sometimes have an issue when it comes to “lasting power”, so it makes sense they should be this far down the list.

Step 7: Setting Spray

The very last item on our list regarding what order to do your makeup in is an important one. This is especially true for when those temperatures run on the high side. Setting spray works wonders to keep your makeup in place, even when you’re doing a fair amount of sweating. You can get it in matte, or with a bit of shimmer. After all, you’ve worked so hard to look so good! Don’t let a little sweat wash away all your effort.