It happens to the best of us: You follow your skin care regimen to the letter, but alas, you wake up on the day of a big event with a blemish. A pimple. A big, fat zit. In a (totally informal, in-office) poll, six out of seven Total Beauty employees said that they would rather endure a torrential downpour on their wedding day than walk down the aisle with a pimple. Since, in real life, you can't trade pimples for pouring down rain, you have one of two (not-so-great) options:

Cover it with concealer and pray no photo goes unedited

OR

Pop it and cross your fingers that the swelling goes down in time

Lora Condon, author of "Spa Wars" and four-time winner of Spa Week's Best Facial, says that hiding the blemish with makeup is your best option if the pimple hasn't come to a head. "If it's a deep pimple underneath the skin (that feels like a pea), don't pop it," she says. According to Condon, a lot of damage (bleeding and even scarring) can be caused by people trying to pop pimples too soon. It's easier to conceal a red bump than a gushing wound or scab, she points out. Yes, indeed. Condon recommends makeup products with benzoyl peroxide (like Hydroxaton Anti Acne CC Cream) to conceal and treat the blemish.

I never thought a facialist would tell me, "Go ahead and pop that pimple," but Condon says it's OK under two conditions: if the blemish has come to a head (meaning pus is visible under the skin) and you have at least three hours before you have to start getting ready for your event. To pop it, Condon advises wrapping your fingers in cotton and placing one finger on each side of the pimple, applying gentle pressure. "If it has a head, it should come out easily," she says. Squeeze until the liquid that comes out is clear, then dab on a spot treatment like tea tree oil. She warns that if three squeezes aren't enough to pop it, the pimple should be left alone.

Worst-case scenario? If you can't pop the pimple and you're feeling self-conscious, try drawing attention to other features. "Just put on really big eyelashes so everybody looks at your eyes," says Condon.

You've decided that bottled bronze is not for you, and you simply must have that authentic sun-kissed look. Should you hop in a tanning bed and get it artificially, or go without sunscreen at the beach? We can't recommend either, but which is the biggest beauty offense?

Visit a tanning bed

OR

Bake in the sun, sans sunscreen

Using a tanning bed makes our list of the seven deadly skin sins, because women who use tanning beds are 2.5 times more likely to get squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma. According to the National Skin Care Foundation, those who use tanning beds before the age of 35 are 75 percent more likely to develop skin cancer. In individuals aged 18 to 29, tanning beds were cited as the cause of skin cancer in 76 percent of cases. Not scared yet? Read on, brave tanner.

If you hit a tanning salon, remember that just 10 minutes inside a tanning bed is equivalent to a full day of sun exposure. And, as Condon points out, you directly absorb UVA rays, which play a key role in contributing to the development of skin cancer.

Condon says she's seen many clients age themselves by a decade or more with their tanning-bed habit. "Once you stop tanning, the aging process doesn't stop with it. It just keeps going," she says. Condon reports that she notices more "criss-cross" wrinkles around the eyes, freckles and blotchy skin tone in patients who use tanning beds than in those who don't.

And, just so you know, that whole "base tan" thing is a myth.

Don't say we didn't warn you ...