Applying cow fat to your face is one of the latest trends in skin care.
Beef tallow is currently trending on social media as an alternative to traditional skin care products.
The simple ingredient balm is made from the fat around cow kidneys, which is processed into butter that can be used as a moisturizer.
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While many people may be wary of using animal-based products on their faces, Virginia-based natural skin care company Hearth & Homestead sold out of its tallow balm products on Black Friday.
Lily Wilmoth, the company's founder and president, talked about the surge in demand for beef tallow in an on-camera interview with Fox News Digital.
Hearth and Homestead founder Lily Wilmoth is pictured with her husband and five children. “Our biggest products have always been tallow-based skin care products,” she told Fox News Digital. (Hearth and Homestead)
“It’s bigger than ever,” she said. “Our biggest products have always been tallow-based skin care products.”
How is beef tallow made?
Wilmoth revealed that her tallow balm is made from 100% grass-fed beef suet, the fat that wraps around cow kidneys sourced from farms across the country.
The fat is harvested, ground into butter, blended with herbed olive oil, then melted, whipped, cooled and bottled.
“I'm a pharmacist, so I don't take these three vitamin supplements.”
“This isn't backfat or other types of fat like you would find in a steak,” Wilmoth says. “This is a very special fat…Our ancestors recognized that this fat was special.”
“It contains more nutrients than other animal fats,” she continued. “It has a very creamy, white texture. There's no strange smell or taste.”
Wilmoth says this particular fat stores nutrients such as vitamins D and A.
Potential benefits for skin
“Our skin is an organ,” Wilmoth says. “That's why it's so important that everything you put on your skin is carefully thought out.”
Some commercially available moisturizers contain “complex ingredients, preservatives, emulsifiers…a long list of fragrances, dyes,” which can worsen skin conditions such as eczema and acne, he says. warned.
Tallow balm is recommended to be used as a moisturizer at the end of skin care, after washing with a simple natural soap. (Hearth and Homestead)
“Tallow balms are oil-based and contain no water, so no preservatives are needed,” she says. “It does not disrupt the natural skin barrier.”
Although tallow balm is “not a cure-all” and everyone's skin reacts differently, Wilmoth noted that many customers say it helps with conditions such as acne and psoriasis.
“It contains more nutrients than other animal fats.”
Dr. Brendan Camp, a New York-based dermatologist, agreed that beef tallow is “generally well tolerated” by most skin types.
He confirmed that beef tallow acts as a humectant, “locking moisture into the skin” and making the skin feel “smooth and soft.”
For skeptics who think using fat on the face can clog pores, one expert pointed out that tallow's fatty acid profile is “similar to the makeup of our own skin.” . (Hearth and Homestead)
“As an emollient, tallow fills in the cracks and crevices in the skin that cause roughness,” he told Fox News Digital.
Camp noted that beef tallow also contains omega-3 fatty acids and various vitamins, which can help maintain skin barrier health and protect against “oxidative stress.”
not ideal for everyone
Wilmoth acknowledged that everyone's microbiome is different, so “we can't guarantee that everyone will get amazing results with tallow.”
“Depending on your particular skin type, you may find that others are more effective,” she said.
People with oily skin may find beef tallow products “too heavy or greasy,” Camp warned.
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“If you have sensitive skin, you may want to consider doing a patch test on the inside of your arm before using it more aggressively on your skin,” she recommended.
For those who choose not to use beef tallow, Camp recommends trying other basic moisturizers that don't contain fragrances or colorants and contain moisturizing ingredients like ceramides, glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and squalane. I suggested it.
One dermatologist warned that tallow can cause irritation in some people. (St. Petersburg)
He also noted that beef tallow products, like most commercial supplements, are not regulated by the FDA.
In a video posted to Instagram and shared with Fox News Digital, Dr. Tina Meder, cosmetic safety expert, dermatologist, and founder of London's Maeder Beauty, talks about all the hype surrounding tallow balm. questioned.
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Mader, who grew up in Estonia in the 1970s, said her mother applied tallow to her face and hands in the cold winters because there was no other option.
“It was the only way to protect the children's faces and hands from cold burns,” she said.
One expert warned that some of the fats in beef tallow can promote inflammation and “sensitize the skin” in humans. (St. Petersburg)
But Mader wondered why people don't take advantage of the various creams and moisturizers currently available that are “better than beef tallow.”
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“Beef tallow is not bioidentical,” she says. “The lipids in beef tallow have little in common with the lipids in human skin.”
“Depending on your skin type, you may find that others are more effective.”
Linoleic acid, found in human sebaceous glands, is especially essential for skin health because it is an anti-inflammatory antioxidant and also promotes viscosity, Dr. Mader noted. However, beef tallow does not contain linoleic acid.
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Mader added that other fats in tallow can promote inflammation and “sensitize the skin” in humans.
“It's not right to put beef tallow on your skin when you have such a wide range of options,” she says.
