When it comes to makeup and skincare products, they’re truly tough to rank.

Depending on the person and their personal beauty needs, any matter of products can be beneficial. We’d get ourselves into an awfully sticky situation if we declared one product “better” or more necessary than another.

When it comes to beauty tools, however, their level of importance is pretty universal. Regardless of how much care you put into your day-to-day beauty maintenance, there are some tools that just don’t carry the same weight as ones that would be pretty tough to get by without.

If you’re short on space in your luggage, bookbag, bank account or whatever the case may be, keep reading for our definitive ranking of 10 beauty tools, from least important to imperative (*Note: We left out makeup brushes because there are far too many to list):

10. Compact

There’s no question that a compact has its uses. Fresh from a meal and need to scope out those pearly whites? Just applied a bold lip stain and want to make sure you don’t look like a clown? Whether you’re obsessed with staring at yourself or not, having a mini mirror handy is certainly useful. But it comes in at the bottom of the list because you can check yourself out in many other ways. Whether it’s from the selfie side of your phone, a car window or a bathroom, you should be more than able to get by without a compact.

Girl looking at acne in a compact mirror

(via Shutterstock)

9. Nail Clipper

Were we not ones to frequent the nail salon, we’d probably place the classic nail clipper much higher on this list. But because we know of the trusty cuticle clipper, we haven’t paid much attention to the former. Nail clippers do the bare minimum, trimming a sturdy section of a nail, while the much gentler cuticle clippers are really where it’s at. We’ll give them all the praise they deserve a bit later in this ranking.

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A post shared by Anchor Nail Clippers (@anchor_tr) on Apr 13, 2019 at 5:37am PDT

8. Eyelash Curler

Don’t get us wrong, having lengthy lashes is of utmost importance in the beauty space. But with all the other beauty tools that keep us occupied, we wouldn’t shed a tear if we accidentally left our eyelash curler somewhere. While these definitely give our lashes an added kick, using the right mascara can give us just about the same effect.

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A post shared by shu uemura (@shuuemura) on Apr 2, 2019 at 2:02am PDT

7. Blow Dryer

We can’t speak for everyone else, but we’re all about that air dry life. Unless we’re in a serious rush and need our hair to dry especially quickly, we keep our blow dryer usage to a minimum. Blow dryers typically take forever, and unless you have naturally stick-straight hair, they don’t usually do much to alleviate the frizz and curl (unless you have it dried professionally).

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A post shared by Vannie Tran (@vannie.beauty) on May 19, 2019 at 10:37am PDT

6. Curling Iron

Curling irons are great for when we’re feelin’ fancy, or for when we’ve gone a few days without washing our hair and know our locks will hold better curled. But most of us don’t require curling iron usage on a day-to-day basis—and nowadays people are using flat irons to create waves, anyway!

brunette girl curls her hair with iron

(via Shutterstock)

5. Nail File

Ah, the handy nail file. Easy to take anywhere and so necessary to use, we really can’t say a bad thing about this little product. While it doesn’t have many uses, the one use it has is major, as we’ve all suffered a broken nail or needed a nail to be filed down. There are certainly more useful products on this list, which is why this doesn’t rank even higher, but this classic handbag necessity is a must for all.

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A post shared by Disney Deluxe UK 🇬🇧 (@disneydeluxeuk) on May 23, 2019 at 2:11pm PDT

4. Tweezer

Okay, now we’ve reached the can’t-live-without portion of our ranking. Tweezers are of utmost importance. They have so many uses. Of course, there’s its designated hair-plucking job. But they can also tug at a pesky hangnail when you have no clippers in sight; they help remove splinters and glass from your skin; they can even help open tough boxes when you’re at a loss for scissors. Having a pair of tweezers on hand is always a good idea.

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A post shared by Zumair Hussain (@medical_instruments13) on May 23, 2019 at 2:06am PDT

3. Cuticle Clipper

We began to rave about the extremely underrated cuticle clipper above, but now that we’ve landed on its actual ranking, let’s go full force with its praise. These stainless steel bad boys clip nails, cut cuticles, snag hangnails and work as a great fill-in for scissors when you need a box opened. They’re much easier to use than nail clippers, and they cut less deep. We strongly advise keeping a pair of these with you at all times. Game changer.

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A post shared by Gel Nails (@uv_gel_nails) on Nov 25, 2018 at 10:57am PST

2. Hair Brush/Comb

Whether we’re putting our hair up in a bun or styling it down for the day, we’ve never not used a hair brush or comb. Fresh from the shower, mid-blow dry, it doesn’t matter. Using a brush or comb helps detangle our locks and keeps them uniform for when we’re styling. To put into clearer terms, styling our hair without a brush or comb is like wearing jeans without underwear—something just feels totally off and haphazard.

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A post shared by Olivia Garden International (@oliviagardenint) on May 23, 2019 at 1:57pm PDT

1. Flat Iron

And now, for the most important, most necessary, can’t-live-without beauty tool—the flat iron! Whether we have curly hair or straight, short hair or long, we’re all in need of the TLC that this life-changing product provides. Whether there’s a weird hair out of place that we need to calm down, or we have funky bangs that need some taming, even people who don’t traditionally use flat irons have a need for one. In addition to making our hair look sleek and chic, they’re now even used to create waves. We can’t say enough about our beloved hair tool, which is why it ranks at No. 1 on our list.

n_p-beautiful-vibrating-flat-iron-070618

(via N:P Beautiful)

Now that we’ve ranked your beauty tools, let’s talk HERE about getting into a skincare routine, even if you’re lazy.

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