It’s almost predictable: you have a big event, an interview, a party, basically any important event coming up, yet no matter how clear your skin has been in the days leading up to it, you can almost guarantee that the night before – or worse, the morning of – you’ll have a breakout.

It’s the most irritating thing ever but it’s a situation we’ve all found ourselves in at least once. Don’t worry though because all is not lost just yet. We got the low down from Meghan Markle’s right hand man and woman, AKA facialist Sarah Chapman (who was the woman responsible for the Duchess’ pre-wedding skin prep) and make-up artist Daniel Martin (who recently spoke about some key details to do with her wedding beauty look), about what to do if you find yourself in that very situation.

“I never really recommend for people to do their own extractions at home, but at the same time we’re all human and sometimes we want to squeeze and pick. So for me it’s about making sure it’s done in the right, sterile way and with clean hands,” says Chapman.

First up: you need to tackle the blemish before you even think about trying to disguise it with make-up. “The best thing to do is to use a warm compress – just warm water with a little bit of witch hazel or tea tree for there anti-bacterial properties – and literally just press it onto the spot,” explains Chapman.

“Then, rather than squeezing or picking, wiggle the tissue around it and if it’s ready to pop then it will. After that you can clean and sterilise the area,” she adds. “The important thing at this point is not to touch it anymore – that’s the worst thing you can do. I usually recommend people use my spot stickers which help prevent bacteria getting in and to help take down any inflammation.”

If the spot you have doesn’t have a head and is instead an inflamed lump, Chapman suggests massaging the area to help drain away some of the inflammation. “That’ll help reduce the size, making it easier to cover with make-up.”

This is where Daniel Martin’s tips come in handy. The renowned make-up artist says the most important thing as far as he’s concerned is to prep the area so the spot doesn’t directly touch the make-up that’s applied on top of it.

“After the treatment to the actual spot, I take a small amount of cortisone gel and lay a thin film over the area and let it sit for a minute or two. That helps protects the area,” he says. “Then I’ll go over it with eye shadow primer. What that does is primes and seals the blemish before and then I apply concealer and foundation over that.”

And there we have it: never will an unexpected spot or blemish ruin our day again. 

Main image: Getty