Best Tallow Skin Care Recipes

Beef tallow skin care recipes are nothing new. People have used tallow on their skin for centuries. It might sound odd at first, but once you try these easy DIY tallow recipes, you’ll see exactly why people love using them!

What is Tallow?

Tallow is rendered animal fat, typically from ruminant animals. It is a dry, hard, and waxy mass. There are many uses from cooking to skin care, soap and candle making, and more.

The tallow color ranges from deep yellow (like butter) to white depending on the type of animal. Seasonal variability, and dietary influences. 

Once rendered, it has a very mild smell. Don’t worry, you won’t walk around smelling like dinner.

Beef tallow is the most common form of tallow, so that’s what I’ll reference here. You can substitute sheep tallow or any other kind of tallow that you like in equal proportions.

Is Beef Tallow Good for Skin?

Tallow is my all-time favorite fat not only because it is extremely affordable, even for high-quality grass-fed, but because it is super versatile. This ancestral food should be in everyone’s pantry and bathroom.

Animal fat is one of the best things to use for organic skin creams and homemade balms. The chemical composition of tallow is highly bioavailable, which means it’s easy for our skin to absorb and use the nutrients. (1)

Continue reading more on the benefits of tallow for skin.

Health Benefits of Tallow

High in fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin A, D, E, K, and omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, tallow can nourish us from the inside and out. (2, 3 ) 

Generally speaking, grass-fed foods have more nutritional value than grain-fed; fat is no exception. Both grass-fed meat and fat have lower amounts of total concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids and individual omega-6 with higher amounts of omega-3.  (4, 5, 6)

These fatty acids are incredibly nourishing for human skin and create the backbone of skin cells. Anecdotally, many notice improvements to autoimmune conditions like rosacea and eczema after consistently using tallow on their skin.

Tallow contains many naturally occurring fatty acids that moisturize and regenerative the skin at a cellular level.

• Alpha linoleic and linoleic acids
• Stearic acid and oleic acid
• Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
• Palmitoleic acid
• Palmitic acid

How is Tallow Made?

The process of making tallow is quite easy. When you’re ready to try it yourself, follow the step-by-step directions in my post How to Render Tallow. 

Take the suet from any ruminant animal, chop it up into small bits, and heat it in a pot over low heat until the fat melts out. Strain the hot fat through a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer and store in clean glass jars.

“Cracklings” are the crunchy bits leftover and delicious to eat with salt. They are better than popcorn!

Tallow is an amazing food that is perfectly stable at room temperature and will last for many months without refrigeration. It’s a keto emergency food I rely on.

If you prefer to buy tallow, I recommend this grass-fed option from White Oak Pastures. WOP is a family-owned and operated farm dedicated to regenerative agriculture and bringing the highest quality foods to market.

Is Tallow Good for Oily Skin?

You can use tallow on all skin types, including oily skin. A little tallow balm goes a long way. If you do notice it’s getting greasy, that probably indicates you are using too much.

The tallow skincare recipes listed below are entirely all-natural and based on organic, whole food ingredients. DIY recipes like these feed your skin and intentionally nourish it with components that soothe and regenerate at a cellular level.

You may notice tallow-based skincare products moisturize your skin and help regulate oil production.

In addition to oily skin, tallow skincare works well for dry and sensitive skin too.

I highly recommend tallow balm and other creams for those who “have tried everything” but still break out in red spots and rashes. Tallow is compatible with our natural sebum and works with it, not against it, to soothe and repair aging or damaged skin without clogging pores or triggering autoimmune reactions.