By Angela Clifton, founder of Edenwild
quick answer: Tallow is rendered fat from suet, the dense fat around a cow's kidneys. It is one of the oldest skincare ingredients there is. Of all the ancient fats people have put on their skin, tallow is one of the closest matches to the oils skin makes on its own. It also carries fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K and stays naturally stable without water or synthetic preservatives. That combination is why it makes such a good everyday base, and why every Edenwild balm starts with grass-fed and finished tallow from suet.
jump to: why would cow fat be good for skin? · how people used tallow before modern skincare · tallow vs other ancient ingredients · why tallow feels different on skin · why suet and why grass-fed and finished · what to look for in a tallow balm · the honest hesitations · how to use tallow balm · Edenwild tallow products · a note from our founder
Your great-grandmother probably kept a tin of it. Before moisturizers came in pumps, tallow was what people rubbed into chapped hands, windburned cheeks and cracked heels.
Then it vanished from bathroom shelves for most of a century. Now it's back, and plenty of people are wondering why. Why would anyone put beef fat on their face? Is it just a trend? And if you want skincare rooted in ancient ingredients, why tallow instead of olive oil, lanolin or shea?
Those are good questions. Here are honest answers.
why would cow fat be good for skin?
It sounds strange until you think about what skin actually is. Your skin makes its own oil called sebum. Sebum keeps skin soft and helps hold moisture in. Much of it is made of saturated and monounsaturated fats like palmitic, stearic and oleic acid.
Tallow is rich in those same fats. So when you put tallow on your skin, you aren't adding something foreign. You're adding something that looks a lot like what your skin was already making.
That's the word you'll hear tallow lovers use: biocompatible. Your skin recognizes it.
Tallow also carries fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Those vitamins dissolve in fat rather than water, so a fat-based balm is a natural way to bring them along.
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Every Edenwild formula starts with a question: would we put this on our daughters' skin? If the answer is no, it doesn't make the cut. Formulated near Yellowstone.
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how people used tallow before modern skincare
Tallow isn't a new discovery dressed up as an old one. It has been part of human life for thousands of years.
- The ancient world: Ancient Egyptians blended animal fats into ointments and cosmetics. Roman and Greek writers described fat-based salves for skin.
- Medieval and early modern Europe: Tallow was the backbone of the household. It made the soap, the candles and the salve kept by the door for chapped hands.
- The American West: Plains peoples used rendered buffalo and bear fat to dress hair and protect skin from harsh weather. Later, ranching and homesteading families kept tallow on hand for the same reason.
Here in Wyoming that history isn't abstract. Winter wind and dry mountain air are hard on skin, and rendered fat has been the answer in this landscape for generations.
What changed in the twentieth century wasn't that tallow stopped working. Petroleum jelly and mass-produced lotions were simply cheaper to make and easier to ship. Tallow got pushed aside for convenience, not because something better came along.
tallow vs other ancient skincare ingredients
If you're drawn to ancestral skincare, you have options. Many traditional fats and butters are wonderful. They just do different jobs.
| ingredient | where it comes from | what it's like | where it shines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tallow | Suet from cattle | Firm and rich. Similar to skin's own fats. Naturally stable. | The everyday base for face and body balms |
| Lard | Pork fat | Softer than tallow with a similar profile | A close cousin, more common in the kitchen than in skincare |
| Lanolin | Sheep's wool | Thick, waxy and very protective | Lips and very dry spots, though some people find they're sensitive to it |
| Emu oil | Emus, used in Aboriginal Australian tradition | Light and quick to absorb | Serums and lighter formulas |
| Olive oil | Olives, a Mediterranean staple | Soft and fluid | Traditional soaps and herbal infusions |
| Shea butter | Shea nuts from West Africa | Creamy and rich | Body care and lip balms |
| Beeswax | Honeybees | Firm and protective | Giving balms structure, as a partner rather than on its own |
We love several of these. You'll find emu oil in our Alpenglow serum and shea and beeswax in our lip balm. But when it comes to the base of an everyday balm, tallow stands apart for five reasons:
- It's one of the closest matches to skin's own oils. That's the heart of why it sinks in and feels comfortable for hours.
- It brings its own vitamins. Grass-fed and finished tallow carries A, D, E and K. Most plant butters and waxes don't bring that full set.
- It's naturally stable. Tallow is mostly saturated and monounsaturated fat, which holds up well over time. Many plant oils are high in polyunsaturated fats, which are more fragile and oxidize faster.
- It holds its own shape. Tallow is firm at room temperature, so a tallow balm doesn't need heavy waxes or synthetic thickeners to hold together.
- It's honest about where it comes from. Suet is a by-product of raising cattle for food. Using it means using the whole animal instead of letting part of it go to waste.
Plant oils still matter. They're the specialists. That's why our balms use tallow as the base and slow-infused botanicals for everything else. Tallow nourishes. The plants bring the comfort and the specialized support. When we do use a higher-polyunsaturated oil, it's because it brings real benefit, and we keep it to small amounts.
why tallow feels different on skin
If you've only used lotions, your first tallow balm can be a surprise. It's firm in the jar. Then it softens as it warms between your fingers and melts into your skin.
Most lotions are mostly water. The water evaporates and skin can feel tight again within a few hours. A tallow balm has no water at all, so there's nothing to evaporate. What you put on stays with you.
That's also why a little goes so far. A pea-sized amount covers your whole face.
why suet, and why grass-fed and finished?
Not all tallow is the same. Three things make the difference.
Where it comes from on the animal. Suet is the dense, clean fat around the kidneys. It renders into a smoother, milder tallow than fat from other parts of the animal. That's why it's the preferred source for skincare.
What the animal ate. Tallow reflects the animal's diet. Cattle raised and finished on grass produce fat that's richer in omega-3s, CLA and fat-soluble vitamins than grain-fed cattle. "Grass-fed" on its own can mean an animal spent its last months on grain. "Grass-fed and finished" means it stayed on pasture to the end.
How it's rendered. Our tallow is dry rendered at low heat. That protects the fat instead of scorching it and keeps the scent mild.
what to look for in a tallow balm
Tallow's comeback means there's a lot of it on the market now, and not all of it is made the same way. Here's a quick checklist.
- "From suet" on the label. It tells you the tallow came from the cleanest fat on the animal.
- "Grass-fed and finished," not just "grass-fed." The finishing is what protects the nutrient profile.
- A short ingredient list you can read. Tallow, botanicals and a little vitamin E. That's often all a good balm needs.
- No synthetic fragrance. It's one of the most common sources of irritation for sensitive skin.
- A dense texture. Heavily whipped balms are full of air, so you get less tallow per jar. We don't whip ours.
- Real botanicals, not just extracts. Slow-infused herbs bring more to the balm than a drop of extract stirred in at the end.
the honest hesitations
"isn't it a little gross?"
We understand the reaction. But consider what's in many conventional moisturizers: petroleum by-products, synthetic fillers and fragrance blends you can't pronounce. Tallow is one ingredient, from one animal, made the way people have made it for centuries. Once people try it, the hesitation usually disappears.
"is it ethical?"
That's a personal question, and we respect people who choose a vegan routine. For those who eat meat, tallow is one of the most respectful ways to use an animal fully. Suet is a by-product that would otherwise often go to waste.
"will it feel heavy?"
Only if you use too much. Warm a small amount between your fingertips and press it onto damp skin. It should sink in within a few minutes and leave your skin soft, not slick.
how to use tallow balm
- As a daily face moisturizer: Warm a pea-sized amount between your fingertips. Press it onto damp skin after cleansing. Use it morning and night, or just at night if your skin runs oily.
- On dry, rough patches: Massage it in after a bath while skin is still damp. A little every day does more than a thick layer now and then.
- As an overnight treatment: Use a slightly more generous layer before bed, especially on your driest spots.
- For little ones: Smooth a thin layer on cheeks, hands or anywhere skin feels dry.
- On lips, hands and cuticles: Tallow's staying power makes it great for spots that dry out fast.
Edenwild tallow products
Every Edenwild balm starts with the same grass-fed and finished tallow from suet. Then we blend in calendula, chamomile and marshmallow root slow-infused in jojoba oil. Each balm adds its own botanicals for a specific purpose.
- Happy Baby Balm: Our simplest balm. Tallow, the infused herbs and colloidal oatmeal. Made for little ones and sensitive skin at every age.
- Golden Root Antioxidant Balm: Frankincense resin, sea buckthorn and baobab. For skin that's been through some seasons.
- Morning Dew Balm: Camellia, argan, myrrh resin and black cumin seed oil. An everyday face balm for any skin type.
- Creamsicle Tallow Lip Balm: Tallow, beeswax and shea with sweet orange and benzoin. Soft, creamy and a little nostalgic.
Curious about every botanical we pair with tallow? Our ingredient glossary tells the whole story. Our Never List covers what will never go in.
a note from our founder
When I tell people our balms start with beef fat, I sometimes get a wrinkled nose. I get it.
I came to tallow because nothing else was working, not for my daughter's skin and not for mine. What surprised me wasn't just that it worked. It was how simple it was. One ingredient people have trusted for thousands of years did what a shelf of modern products couldn't.
I live in ranch country, where using every part of the animal is just how things are done. Tallow fits that way of living. Nothing wasted. Nothing added that doesn't need to be there.
Someday I'd love for the suet in our balms to come from a Wyoming ranch just down the road. We're working toward that. Until then we hold every batch to the same standard: grass-fed and finished, from suet and rendered at low heat.
So if you're still on the fence about the wrinkled-nose part, I'd simply say this. Try it on your driest spot for a week. Your skin will tell you what it thinks.
read next
- wyoming approach to wellness: simple, rooted, intentional
- how to build a non-toxic, ancestral skincare routine
- antioxidants for skin: why the delivery systems matters as much as the ingredient
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