In the age of lash extensions and lash lifts, finding time-saving ways to do your eye makeup and get out the door in under 10 is a must. But you don’t have to turn to the pros for inspo on how to get this done, you need only look as far as your mascara wand.

At Avon’s fall beauty preview (where the brand debuted its new mascara, called Love at 1st Lash) celebrity makeup artist Kelsey Deenihan said that there’s an easy way to put on your mascara and tight-line your eyes in one step, and we were all ears (and eyelashes).

The secret is all about how you apply your mascara. Meaning quite simply, that you’ve got to refine your technique. Here’s the trick: While applying mascara to your top lashes, wiggle the wand from side-to-side to spread the formula to the root of the lash, and then pull it through to the tips of your fringe. Repeat this step until you see a nice, thin darkening of the lashes near the roots and the formula is worked through the entirety of the lash without any clumps. You can even press the formula into your waterline to emphasize the effect.

On the bottom, if you somehow always find that the inky formula transfers to the under eyes (sad prom queen, y’all), then, again it’s all about the technique (this hack, however, comes from yours truly). Hold the wand parallel to your lashes, which makes it easier to get the formula on the individual lashes without also getting it on your skin. Take note: This might sound like a recipe for poking yourself in the eye with the wand (it’s not) but you should still take care to gently press it into lashes.

Using the Avon mascara, which has a wand with 200 precisely-placed, varying-length bristles (long ones to place to formula deep at the root and short ones to drag it through) I test the hack out myself and find that I’ve definitely saved myself a step. I look like I’ve lightly applied eyeliner, even though it’s just my new mascara. I just love killing two birds with one stone, don’t you?