Coming Soon: Our Tallow Body Balm is the best stuff you can put on your skin.

What Is Tallow?

Tallow is fat rendered from beef, it’s solid at room temperature but melts into a liquid when heated.

Tallow’s appearance and texture are described as being similar to butter’s, since it’s solid and beige/white color when cooled. However, it has a drier, waxy texture and somewhat different taste than butter.

Grass-fed tallow is what will change your skin for the better. 

Grass-fed cows produce tallow full of vitamins and minerals your skin needs to thrive.

(And don’t worry, we only source our beef tallow from grass-fed cows.) Beef tallow acts as a safe and economical superfood for your skin when applied topically + sourced sustainably.

Similar to cooking, beef tallow was the original moisturizer, nutrient-rich cream, and skincare product. Before the influx of man-made chemicals, toxins, and unnatural substances in skincare, tallow played a prominent role. It was in almost every skincare product developed and used by our ancestors.

A book of “recipes” for all facets of life, written by Dr. A.W. Chase, MD, in 1866, lists ten formulations of salve, eight of which contain tallow.5

We can talk all day about its benefits, but we’re backing it up with proof. Let’s look at the actual nutrient and vitamin breakdown so you can see why tallow for skin is our favorite.

Nutrient Content You Gain From Using Tallow for Skin

Tallow contains high concentrations of fat-soluble Vitamins A, D, and K in a balanced combination with their activators. This is a big reason why beef tallow has such a profound impact on your skin + overall health.

Grass-fed tallow also contains Vitamin E (four times as much as grain-fed cows). It even has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties thanks to high concentrations of essential fatty acids your skin needs, like conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and palmitoleic acid.

Here’s how each of these vitamins helps your skin:

• Vitamin A – Encourages the production of collagen, elastin, and healthy skin cells. This helps strengthens tissue to keep skin firm, smooth and youthful. On top of that, it has the ability to heal a variety of skin issues, like acne. It can also help slow down the effects of aging on your skin. (You might recognize Vitamin A from products like Retin-A.)

• Vitamin D – Contributes to skin cell development, repair, metabolism, and immune function. It’s able to protect and rejuvenate your skin by protecting against free radicals that cause premature aging.

• Vitamin K – Plays an important role in skin tone, texture, and overall health. It can soothe skin inflammation and irritation while helping speed up your healing.

• Vitamin E – Repairs and reverses free radical damage. This powerful antioxidant can deeply hydrate and promote healing in your skin’s physical appearance.

Pretty impressive, right? 

Here’s some of the science behind why using tallow for skin works so well:

→ Beef tallow is incredibly effective in improving skin cell health due to the similar makeup it has to our skin. Our cell membranes are mostly fatty acids, with at least 50% being saturated fats. Tallow is also made up of about 50% saturated fats – with the remaining being monounsaturated fats.

Having such a similar makeup means that beef tallow is incredibly compatible with our cell biology. This translates to a powerful experience that nourishes and boosts our cell health.

And as you know, skin health starts at a cellular level.

→ Another indication of its positive impact on our skin is its similarity to sebum. Sebum is the oily, waxy substance that moisturizes, lubricates, and protects your skin. Both sebum and tallow are mainly comprised of triglycerides (which have effective emollient + skin-replenishing properties).