DIY Tallow Balm: Easy Homemade Recipe

This incredibly easy DIY, homemade Tallow balm recipe comes together in a few minutes, making it easy to add tallow balm into your family’s skincare routine.

Why Use Tallow for Skincare?

Tallow is incredibly nourishing, thanks to the vitamins and fatty acids that mimic the composition of human sebum. This makes it exceptionally effective at moisturizing, healing, and protecting the skin. Unlike synthetic products, this easy homemade tallow balm is free of harmful chemicals and additives, making it a gentle option for those seeking more natural skincare.

What is Tallow?

Tallow is a rendered form of fat from the fat of cows or sheep. Historically, it has been used for a variety of purposes, from cooking to making candles. Today, we mostly see the benefits of tallow for cooking and skincare.

When choosing tallow for this recipe, I prefer to use the suet tallow. Suet is the fat that is around the kidneys of an animal. When rendered properly, it doesn’t have a strong beef scent and it absorbs wonderfully into the skin.

As always, you want to make sure that the animal your tallow came from lived a high-quality life. Tallow from grass-fed and finished animals will be much higher in vitamins than tallow from confinement-raised animals.

The Benefits of Tallow for Skincare

Tallow for skincare seems to be all over social media these days (or is it just my account?). I switched over to tallow-based skincare about 2 years ago and I haven’t looked back. I have seen a noticeable change in my skin with tallow balm.

Using tallow has allowed me to reduce the steps in my skincare routine down to two. Oil cleanse (only if I wore makeup that day) and tallow.

These are a few reasons why I choose tallow for my skincare needs.

1. Nourishing and Moisturizing: Tallow is rich in vitamins A, D, E, and K, which are essential for maintaining healthy skin. Tallow mimics our skin’s natural oils, making it easily absorbed and highly moisturizing. This also means it won’t clog our pores.
2. Healing: The fatty acids in tallow can help promote skin regeneration and repair. This makes tallow balm excellent for soothing dry, irritated skin and aids in healing minor cuts and abrasions.
3. Anti-Aging: Tallow could help maintain the skin’s elasticity and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

The Benefits of Olive Oil for Skincare

I like to cut my tallow balm with oil. This helps to make the tallow balm a little softer and easier to get out of the container. It will also help the tallow melt into the skin more quickly.

Olive oil is my oil of choice. For me, I find it absorbs quickly into my skin. It doesn’t cause my skin to break out. It is also very moisturizing.

When choosing an oil for your homemade whipped tallow balm pick something that is liquid at room temperature. My recommendations (after olive oil) would be jojoba oil or castor oil. I would encourage you to try all of them and see which one you like the best.

These are a few of the reasons that I chose olive oil for my homemade whipped tallow balm.

1. Moisturizing: Olive oil is a fantastic moisturizer, thanks to its high content of squalene and fatty acids. It penetrates deeply into the skin, providing lasting hydration.
2. Rich in Antioxidants: Olive oil contains vitamins E and K, which help protect the skin from environmental damage and can reduce signs of aging.
3. Anti-Inflammatory: The polyphenols and oleic acid in olive oil have anti-inflammatory properties, which can help soothe and calm irritated skin.

Making Tallow Balm at Home

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of rendered tallow
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• Essential oils (optional, for fragrance)

Instructions:

• Melt the Tallow: Start by melting the tallow. Tallow is solid at room temperature so cut the fat into small pieces and heat it slowly over low heat until it melts.
• Mix Ingredients: Once the tallow is rendered and slightly cooled, add the olive oil.

• Add Essential Oils: If you want a scented balm, add a few drops of your favourite essential oils. Lavender, tea tree, and chamomile are great options. This step is completely optional. I leave my balm unscented because essential oils aren’t really my thing. But if you are informed about the benefits of essential oils, by all means, add them.
• Cool: Pour the liquid tallow mixture into a bowl and allow it to cool completely. To speed the process up you could put your tallow balm in the fridge. I will advise against it. After trying the fridge and having it sit out on the counter, the balm that cooled on the counter had a much better texture.
• Whipped It: Once the mixture is cooled completely, use an electric mixer to whip the tallow balm. You will know it is ready when it almost looks like cake frosting.

• Store: Put the mixture into clean containers. Store in a cool, dark place to preserve the balm’s quality.

If you get a chance to make the tallow balm, share it on Instagram and tag me. I would love to see how it turns out.