T-Secret: Gail Kent The Acne Maven

by Julie Tetel Andresen | November 11, 2016 |

Title Image: Gail Kent, founder of T-Secret, giving a facial

The best secret in Orlando, Florida is Tamahra’s Secret, aka T-Secret, a skin care salon in College Park. It’s not Orlando’s best kept secret, by any means, because it is widely known both locally and nationally and, indeed, clients fly in from around the country for treatments.

T-Secret at 1512 Edgewater Drive

When Gail began almost 30 years ago in Mexico, she was a one-woman operation. Today she has 14 employees.

From left: Kimberly Moore, Lisa Kenney, Gail Kent, CariAnn Bisset, Astryd Rosa, Emily Yannone, Jane Johnson, Caroline Yachan

Berta Hernandez and Edyn Cornejo keep things running behind the scenes.

(Not pictured: Agelique Trabal, Erin Read, Lily Ngaruiya, Jessica Prado, Kendall Crofoot)

The secret? Gail is an acne specialist. I could call her a guru, but I’ll go with the Yiddish and give her the title Acne Maven.

First, see the results:

T-Secret’s success does not come from drying the skin either from the inside (by taking oral medications like tetracycline) or from the outside (by using benzoyl peroxide wipes). Rather, dramatically improved skin results from two important elements of Gail’s treatment:

Extractions

Extractions are the key to Gail’s success. Her aestheticians first properly steam the skin and then, pore-by-pore and with gentle fingers, take out all the white heads and black heads. Only by clearing out the skin can the healing process begin. It is not unusual for a single treatment to last two and even three hours.

It might take repeated extraction sessions for the skin to get on the right path. But eventually healing occurs, and then clients need come back only for touch-ups.

Diet

Dairy products can clog pores, so if you’re a cheese lover and you have acne problems you’ll have to give it up. The real culprit in dairy is the high amount of sugar, which produces triglycerides, which in turn cause congestion not only in the skin but also in the arteries and heart muscle. So if you’re a sweet-eater and have acne, it’s time to kick the sugar habit.

A good, balanced diet results in good digestion, which also entails (I’m putting it out there) good bowel movements. If you’re not pooping on a regular basis, the waste has to go somewhere and may well end up on your skin. Gross, yes, but real.

There is a third pillar to T-Secret’s treatments, and it is the exclusive product line Gail personally makes in her lab. However I intend this blog more as a Public Service Announcement – to let people know that a reliable treatment exists for even the most severe acne – than as an advertisement for the salon’s products, so I won’t go on and on about them. Having said that, however, T-Secret’s products are pure, reasonably priced, and I’ve been happily using them for years.

T-Secret’s facials are great for any type of skin (mine is very dry), but I’m focusing here on problem skin because getting rid of acne can change a person’s life.

Here’s what Gail has to say about her life’s work: