I thought of way too many puns for the name of this article, so you’re lucky I went tame. Cow fat skincare? Yes. It’s a thing and apparently it’s not just some medieval type skincare secret, but something that is making a resurgence in the beauty world. My inner witchy self that likes to trim herbs in the moonlight near my cottage in the woods is quite intrigued by this age-old beauty routine, but my normal modern brain is wondering why in the devil with all of the advancements in skin care are we coming back to this.
It’s cow fat, duh. Didn’t you get the hint earlier? Tallow can actually be made from both beef and mutton, so not just cow fat, and is traditionally used in candle and soap making. So I’m sure you’re thinking why we’re even discussing fats as a viable option for skincare, like we just told you that tallow is used in candle making and it’s something people use on their skin? Fats are supposed to be bad, right?
Tallow resembles our skin’s natural oils (sebum) and even gets its name from it. Tallow in Latin is Sebum. Its composition is mainly oleic acid (around 47%) which is primarily considered a good fatty acid to combat dry skin. Oleic acid is known to reduce signs of aging because it penetrates the skin’s surface and replenishes lost moisture. It can also restore natural oil production and prevent future acne breakouts and is high in antioxidants.
Other acids in tallow are palmitic and stearic. Palmitic acid makes for a good emollient in moisturizers and stearic acid is a decent emulsifier (keeps the waters and oils from a product from separating) and a solid surfactant (reduces the surface tension so water can penetrate deeper into the skin).
Sounds okay so far, right? Well, here’s where it gets iffy. Yes, there are good ingredients in tallow, but one of the biggest problems comes in the regulation of the product itself. The FDA hasn’t approved the use of tallow in skin care products. So all of those products you see aren’t regulated or guaranteed to be top level. Because they aren’t regulated, there’s no way of ensuring the product’s sourcing, purity, consistency, or stability (it can melt when warm). Tallow is only a viable skin care option when it has specific characteristics. The cows, for one, need to be grass fed and pasture raised. Cows typically used for meat and dairy are often factory-fed and not raised in a way that makes their tallow a good skincare item.
Another issue that comes with tallow is really the lack of study on the product itself and its viability for different skin types. The flip side of the oleic acid contained in tallow is that it’s been shown to disrupt the skin barrier, potentially causing more irritation than plant oils. Products that are high in linoleic acid and low in oleic acid are typically better for sensitive skin meaning those with more oleic acid are more likely to irritate the skin. Tallow also claims to be non comedogenic, but because of its thick consistency, it might still clog pores.
There’s also the whole “clean skincare” movement where we avoid animals at all costs and this is very obviously not a part of that.
Although tallow skincare has some good merits, there are so many other amazing products out there that we know are good skincare products. Why mess with the killer modern advancements in skincare? I guess I have to break the news to my inner witch that we’ll most likely be skipping out on this trend.
