Everything you need to know about Beef
Tallow
Skincare
Beef tallow skincare is taking over social media, hailed by some consumers as the ultimate glow-up secret while dismissed by others as a greasy gimmick. But slathering cow fat on your face raises serious ethical— is this the key to flawless skin or just another internet-fuelled fad with hidden risks?
Beef tallow—a rendered form of cow fat—is the latest skincare trend to take the internet by storm. The craze gained momentum on TikTok after ‘trad-wife’ influencer Nara Smith claimed that using beef tallow as the base for her homemade moisturiser transformed her skin. Since then, its popularity has surged across the influencer sphere, sending consumers flocking to try the grease-based concoction for themselves.
Google searches for beef tallow have increased by 267% over the past year, with 1.9 million searches in the past month alone—a trend that shows no signs of slowing. Tallow-based moisturisers are now being actively promoted on influencer pages via TikTok Shop and Amazon storefronts. The hashtag #beeftallow has appeared in over 50,000 posts and racked up more than 400 million views overall. Influencers and users alike are sharing glowing testimonials: beauty influencer Kylie Nicole Tuttle calls it a “life-changing” acne treatment, while Michelle Haslam swears by it for “super hydrated” skin. But what ingredients are behind these rave reviews—and can the consumer hype really be backed up?
By definition beef tallow is derived from beef fat that has been rendered. The process of rendering beef fats (suet) is often repeated a number of times until all impurities have been left behind, this disregarded remanence is known as crackings. Once rendered the tallow is melted down and strained through a cheesecloth or muslin in one last effort to remove any unwanted ingredients. The white/yellowish product left behind is now fit to be infused with an additional essential oil and then whipped into a moisturising cream, butter or balm.
The product's simple methodology has led to a flurry of DIY clips across TikTok and YouTube, making it even easier to get your hands on the product.
Beef tallow moisturiser is primarily made up of triglycerides—fatty lipids found in the bloodstream—whose major constituents are derived from stearic acid and around 45% oleic acid (Omega-9). It also contains small amounts of fat-soluble vitamins D, A, K and E, along with 2–3% linoleic acid. Thanks to its linoleic acid content, beef tallow has an occlusive, or sealant-like effect similar to that of Vaseline. For skin damaged by eczema or prone to dryness, or flaking, this occlusive quality may be beneficial, as it helps prevent water from evaporating and allows the skin to retain water levels for healing.
We gave Beauty influencer Zak Heath a tub of popular skincare Tallow Brand Meifenla’s Whipped Tallow moisturiser to try, as he weighed in on the beef-based beauty conversation. “My skin did feel really moisturisied but it felt like I was putting Vaseline on my skin like it was clogging my pores”. He went on to add “it did make my skim look super glowly and personally I love a radiant skincare makeup look. I did feel like there was a film and it made my skin feel quite tight compared to a normal moisturiser”. Heath’s experience isn’t quite matching up to the hydrating claiming flooding out TikTok feed.
While these fatty acids can help support the skin barrier, beef tallow isn’t necessarily the best option for treating dry skin. A well-rounded moisturiser typically falls into three key ingredient types: humectants (like hyaluronic acid) that draw moisture into the skin; emollients (like ceramides) that soften and smooth; and occlusives (like Vaseline) that lock in hydration. Although beef tallow acts as an occlusive, it carries some risk—particularly if the skin barrier is already compromised by chemical-based skincare, as this can increase the chance of irritation or exposure to foreign bacteria.
My skin did feel really moisturisied but it felt like I was putting Vaseline on my skin like it was clogging my pores
In the National Library of Medicine’s 2024 review titled ‘Tallow, Rendered Animal Fat, and Its Biocompatibility with Skin’ they did not confirm wheather beef tallow benefits the skin or face. This is one of the few clinic evaluations of beef tallow skincare, a product which lacks the standardised testing used for conventional skincare products. Beef tallow moisturisers are an unregulated product and not FDA approved, meaning they could be contaminated or pose unknown allergen risks.
Beef tallow skincare business owner Lily Hill from Lily Hill Tallow Co attributed this lack of clinical testing down to big skincare brands not seeing a profit in the product. She goes on to say, “most skincare studies are funded by companies looking to patent their products but for a product to be patented it has to be novel, non-obvious and manmade tallow is none of these things”. Hill goes on to add that because beef tallow can't be patented, big brands are unable to own it or monopolies it. She adds “instead of studying tallow they focus on products they can trademark, mass produce and sell as excessive innovations”.
The lack of testing surrounding beef tallow moisturisers has not deterred its growing fan base with many advocating for the product simply because it’s ‘natural’. A quick search on Amazon reveals a wide range of tallow moisturisers, many marketed as 100% natural, non-toxic, and made from grass-fed cows. Prices typically start around £10 and rise to over £20 when brands highlight organic or grass-fed credentials."
You get faster results for something that is specifically going to work at basal level to help rebalance the skin, only cosmetic medical grade products have the ability to penetrate deep enough.
According to Jo Grew, head Aesthetic practitioner at one of the UK leading premier spa and skincare providers, skincare clients fall into two categories: those who want to take a natural approach and those who want to use manmade products. She adds “it comes down to personal preference, we as skincare specialists need to cater for people wanting something pure and natural and for those wishing to use manmade ingredients”.
Eczema was one of the skincare problems beef tallow supporters claimed it fixed. While there is a case to be made that the barrier the product creates could soothe irritation and cracking there is little scientific evidence to support this. Eczema, like any skin sensitivity, appears on the topic layer of skin but begins from deep within the basal cells. Grew states “you get faster results for something that is specifically going to work at basal level to help rebalance the skin, only cosmetic medical grade products have the ability to penetrate deep enough to stimulate the tissue at the basal dermal level. With natural products it would take a lot longer to achieve the same results as they struggle to penetrate deep enough to the root cause of the problem”.
Grew who has worked in the cosmetic and skincare industry for 40 years, offers a number of plant-based and synthetic (manmade) treatments however she would never consider introducing animal-based products. She goes on to add “There would be ethical push back from our clients, we moved from selling collagen drinks that contained bovine collagen to manmade collagen for this reason”. The tallow used in skincare is primarily suet (kidney fat) which is removed once the animal is butchered. Once again, the lack of product regulation means that each tallow brands transparency in where they get their livestock from is offered up to the consumer on a case-by-case basis.
Heath feelings influencers have an ethical responsiblity when promoting products, leading to moralistic issues when using popular Tallow brands like Meifenla whipped tallow cream, asestral cosmetics tallow or honey balm as they lack transpancy. Heath goes on to say “I would never promote anything that uses animal cruelty. I would prefer a traditional moisturisers that is obviously clinically proven to have effective results”.
There is a fear amongst skincare practitioners that consumers are not evaluating the impact unregulated products could have on their skin from oil and fat inducing breakouts to allergic reactions. Grew states “There is reason research says that you have to mimic a human cell to stimulate that human cell to produce or repair. You can't put something that comes from another source, whether that be a cow, a fish, an apple on the skin and expect it to have the same effects it doesn't have the ability”.
There is no concrete reason to not jump on board the bandwagon and fling the fat on. However, when the ingredients, supply transparency, and potential effects of these products are unregulated and lack scientific backing, can beef tallow really be considered one of the best moisturisers on the market?