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What do old McDonald’s french fries and my skincare routine have in common? Both use tallow. While I don’t eat or recommend fast food fries, tallow is a nourishing age-old remedy for healthier skin. Here’s how to use tallow for skin and its many benefits.
What is Tallow?
Tallow is a healthy fat that has been gaining in popularity over the past few years. It was used as a salve in the 1800s and before to treat different skin conditions. For thousands of year, cultures have been cooking with animal fats.
Usually, when people talk about tallow they’re referring to beef tallow. Tallow can be made from mutton, sheep or deer fat. Up until 1990 McDonald’s used beef tallow for their french fries, as did other fast food places. It’s since been replaced with “heart-healthy” GMO and glyphosate-sprayed vegetable oils (insert sarcasm).
Although tallow may be frowned upon in many dermatologists’ offices and health agencies, deer tallow has been used to make German lotions called hirschtalg for sore muscle pain. And although you likely won’t find tallow at your average big-box grocery store, many of us have kept the tradition of rendering tallow alive.
Tallow: Benefits and Uses
Animal fats are good for our skin. Our skin produces sebum, which helps to protect the skin from harmful bacteria and keep it moisturised. Tallow, which is an animal fat similar to sebum on the skin of humans, is very similar. Sebum, in Latin, is tallow.
Tallow helps provide an emollient skin barrier that’s beneficial for all skin types. It won’t clog pores so it’s helpful for those with acne-prone skin, oily skin, and breakouts. Tallow is gentle enough to use on babies and it’s a favorite to help with rashes. Tallow is also beneficial for those with eczema and psoriasis. It can also be used to treat sensitive skin.
I love how tallow makes my skin feel so silky and it worked wonders on my son’s eczema scars!
Why is Tallow good for the skin?
Beef Tallow is composed of 42% monounsaturated and 50% saturated fat. It contains vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin D and vitamin E for healthy skin. These fat-soluble vitamins have a variety of skin benefits, including:
- Vitamin A – helps stimulate collagen production to reduce fine lines and wrinkles. It improves skin elasticity, and encourages cell turnover to give you a smoother skin.
- Vitamin D – Decreases skin inflammation, an antioxidant that protects skin from damage, and helps prevent the buildup of dead skin cells. It is also important in the prevention of infections.
- Vitamin E – This antioxidant helps prevent free radical damage, promotes wound healing, and improves damaged skin.
- Vitamin K – Can improve skin elasticity to improve stretch marks, may reduce dark spots, and promote wound healing for healthy skin.
You’ll also find conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in grass-fed tallow and meat. CLA can be a part of healthy eating and have many benefits for your health. However, it has also been shown to benefit the skin. This family is polyunsaturated and has anti-inflammatory effects. It also helps to support the immune systems. There’s some evidence that CLA and vitamin E together help rheumatoid arthritis and tallow has both.
CLA is a powerful antioxidant that may help protect against heart diseases and cancer. A 2006 study found that beef tallow boosted CLA’s ability to fight breast cancer cells in mice. The combination prevented the tumors’ metastasis and spread. It’s important to note this is an animal study, but the outcome is promising.
The tallow contains other essential fatty acids, such as oleic acid or stearic Acid.
- Oleic Acid – Helps our skin stay soft and flexible by creating a protective film of fatty acids on the skin. It’s also anti-inflammatory and helps regenerate skin cells.
- Stearic Acid – Helps protect our skin barrier (our sebum is about 11% stearic acid). It’s emollient to soften skin and helps it feel smooth and silky. Reduces flaking (especially psoriasis) and itching.
Mutton Tallow (vs. Beef Tallow
Most tallow comes from beef, but don’t rule out mutton tallow. It has a slightly altered fatty acid composition and a distinct feel on the surface. Mutton tallow has a higher level of antioxidant vitamin E, and less palmitic than beef tallow. However, it contains more oleic acid and stearic acids. They’re similar and both great for the skin.
Mutton tallow from grass-fed sheep can be harder to source but it’s worth trying for skincare. US Wellness Meats sells grass-fed beef tallow, as well as lamb tallow. You can also buy lamb suet, or beef suet to render the tallow.
Compare Beef Tallow with Plant-Based Oils
What is the difference between tallow and other oils and butters, such as olive oil, coconut oil, or shea butter? Each oil and butter contains a different fatty acids profile, some of which are better than others. GLA has been shown to be helpful with psoriasis while linoleic acids helps maintain skin barrier.
Tallow is a plant-based oil that has an animal base. It works differently. You only need a little for it to work and it soaks into the skin nicely (as long as you don’t use too much). Some oils like coconut oil take longer to absorb, and may leave the skin feeling greasy. Some oils, such as castor oil, are thick and sticky, even when used by themselves.
Rendering Tallow For Skin
Does this mean that you should keep the drippings of beef from your dinner to rub on your body? While you You can also read about how to get in touch with us. Tallow is made from suet and can be used to remove fat from animal meat. Suet refers to the fat around the animal’s organs and some people say kidney suet is the best. It’s also called leaf fat.
To render tallow, you must melt down the suet before straining it to remove impurities. Some people repeat this process several times to ensure there’s no meat or other animal parts in their tallow. When stored at room temperatures, pure, refined tallow will last for about a year. If it hasn’t been thoroughly strained or it’s kept in a warm place it can go rancid much faster. Learn how to make your own tallow.
If properly rendered, tallow shouldn’t smell bad. If the cooled tallow smells rancid or like ground beef then it hasn’t been purified enough. It’s probably fine if you’re using it for cooking, but I don’t really want my skin smelling like a cheeseburger.
Grass-Fed vs. Factory Farmed
I know you’ve heard me say this before, but grass-fed and pasture-raised animals are the healthier option. It is the same with tallow. If you’re making your own tallow or buying it from someone make sure you’re getting high-quality grass-fed tallow. Grass fed cows and lambs have a better fatty acid profile, while grain-fed animals are more likely to have fats that cause inflammation.
Grass-fed cows have up to 5x more omega 2 anti-inflammatory fatty acids. You’ll also find twice as much CLA and more vitamin A, vitamin E, and other nutrients. Sheep also contain CLA so you’ll find more CLA in grass-fed mutton tallow too.
Tallow Skincare Products
Tallow balm is a wonderful moisturizer and lotion. Since tallow is hard and waxy on its own, you’ll often find it blended with other butters and oils. Other beef tallow products are unscented, while some contain essential oils. Tallow is also used in the manufacture of hand cream, lip balm and tallow-based soap.
Tallow is very moisturizing and thick, so you need only a tiny amount for it to be effective. You may feel really greasy after applying too much tallow. Tallow is so similar to our skin’s sebum though that it absorbs deep into the skin for nourishing protection.
Precautions & Side Effects
In theory, if you’re allergic to beef you might have an allergy to tallow too. Alpha-gal Syndrome is an allergy to red meats and products made by these animals. It’s unclear if the animal fat will also cause a reaction though.
According to the FDA, there’s also a risk of BSE (mad cow disease) from contaminated cattle products. Many beauty experts have deemed tallow to be dangerous and advised against its use. FDA permits tallow for skincare as long as it contains no more impurities than 0.15%. It must be 100% pure tallow.
The FDA frowns upon raw, grass-fed dairy products from healthy cows. However, they approve of artificial yellow dye (illegal for use in Europe). Their recommendations are to be taken with a pinch of salt. If you’re using tallow from healthy, grass-fed cows that’s been properly rendered BSE won’t be an issue.
Another concern in mainstream beauty circles is the fact that tallow hasn’t been extensively tested as a skincare ingredient. There are thousands of studies using tallow in other ways. Tallow is also used in skin care for centuries and has a long history of safe use.
How to Use Tallow on Skin
I wasn’t too sure about using tallow on my skin at first, but I really like how my skin feels with it. It’s also a great alternative for people with coconut oil allergies or really sensitive skin. I’ve used these homemade tallow lotion bars on my son’s eczema scars and to heal minor skin issues.
If you don’t want to make your own the products at Toups & Co are some of my favorites. There is tallow balm and tallow lipbalm as well as a nourishing stick made from tallow.
Have you used tallow? What is your favorite way to use it. Comment and share your ideas below!