Wait, influencers are rubbing beef tallow on their skin?

Beef cheeks.

When I think of things I want to put on my face, beef fat is pretty far down the list. I never look at a nice marbled piece of steak and think, ‘skincare!’. And yet, thanks to the power of TikTok and tradwives, that’s what people are into now.

Beef tallow – which is rendered-down suet fat from a cow – has somehow become the new favourite DIY moisturiser for a steadily growing niche. Lauded for its vitamin-rich composition, natural emollient properties and whipped texture, the product has been getting many glowing reviews.

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On social media, the before-and-afters show dull and blemished skin, transformed to be dewy and doll-like. It’s enough to convince even the strongest-willed beauty cynic to give it a go. While lots of influencers (like Nara Smith) make tallow skincare themselves, a growing number of natural Australian beauty brands offer jars of the stuff, too.

“Tallow, when sourced responsibly, is a sustainable by-product of the agricultural industry,” explains Laura Daquino, cofounder of Australian skincare brand Tuttofare. “It is often unfairly treated as a waste product or, at best, shipped overseas from Australia. We source [our] tallow from Australian grass-fed and grass-finished producers, and work with a GMP-certified skincare manufacturer to upcycle tallow into beautiful functional skincare right here in Australia.”

I liked the idea of turning an industry waste product into skincare. But is tallow really a skin breakthrough, or just another product of the influencer hype machine? I decided to brave the beef.

First impressions

Rather than trying straight-up beef tallow which is typically used in cooking, my product of choice was the Holy Grail Tallow Balm by Tuttofare. Unscrewing the tin, I braced myself for a meaty aroma but was pleasantly surprised by another familiar smell: chocolate. Tuttofare fuses tallow with cocoa butter and olive oil to enhance the fragrance and texture – a real feast for the senses.

“Beef tallow skincare shouldn’t have a beefy smell. Depending on the way it has been formulated into skincare, it may be described as ‘earthy’ or ‘neutral’ in the jar,” Laura explains. “If the product incorporates essential oils, whole plant extracts or resins, it will take the scent of these… we create our characteristic scents with time, patience and care. For example, we source raw cocoa to not only preserve the bean’s high antioxidant content, but also retain the chocolate essence.”

To be fair, the feeling of the balm was very lovely – rich and deeply hydrating, without being sticky or heavy. It felt thick enough to be used on the rest of the body as well, yet not too intense for the face, similar to a barrier cream. I followed Laura’s recommendation, “A little goes a long way.”

 

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The benefits

“When you improve your skin barrier and lock in moisture, your skin improves,” Laura says. “So tallow-based skincare can work well for anyone, but the most dramatic improvements we see are in customers with skin conditions such as eczema.”

Dr Katherine Armour, dermatologist and founder of Bespoke Skincare Technology, also says tallow’s biggest benefit is its serious moisturising abilities. She notes it acts mostly like an occlusive with a focus on preventing moisture-loss rather than drawing moisture into the skin like a hyaluronic acid. She also notes it has some emollient properties, meaning it softens dry and rough skin. “It does contain a lot of the useful ingredients that actually are present in our own skin liquid layer, like fatty acids and ceramides.”

Beef tallow is also known to contain nourishing fat-soluble vitamins including A, D, K and E. But Dr Armour tells me the levels in some products might not be enough to make a real difference to your skin. “One lot of tallow is different from another, so you’ve got no idea about what the percentages of those vitamins are.”

Also important to note is the absence of preservatives. “The shelf life is going to be really inconsistent,” she tells me. “Sure, some people like the idea of that but… it’s not as stringently tested as other skincare that you will find on the market, particularly in the US where the FDA gets involved.”

Laura explains that tallow-based skincare is an early-stage market so it’s important to choose your products carefully. For Tuttofare, certified, professional formulation is a high priority. “One of the key barriers is that people think all tallow-based skincare is homemade. This is not true in our case. Our products are professionally formulated and made in a GMP-certified skincare manufacturing facility right here in Australia. We have nurses, naturopaths and doctors who recommend our products for this reason.”

Dr Armour also wants to debunk the idea that beef tallow is non-comedogenic (shorthand for skincare that won’t clog your pores). “If it’s processed into another form of skincare and has been tested for [comedogenic properties], you can maybe make that claim. But something that is basically straight fat and oil, I wouldn’t be recommending to any of my acne patients. I would worry it would block their pores if they repeatedly use it.”

Laura counters this, saying that tallow has a low comedogenic score. “As tallow is a semi-occlusive with emollient properties, it is possible that it can form a barrier on your skin and trap bacteria underneath. However, this simply raises the importance of applying tallow on clean skin. Tallow is suitable for all skin types when applied properly.”

The verdict

On the whole, while there’s likely no real harm to putting beef tallow on your face, TikTok influencers are not scientists and there’s not enough evidence yet to show it’s a miracle product either. 

“Look, I think it’s fine,” Dr Armour says. “I think people are after simplicity and it’s probably cost-effective, but it’s not going to do a whole lot of other amazing things for your skin, other than moisturise it.”

In the grand scheme of things, Dr Armour believes the popularity of beef tallow is part of a larger trend where people are trying to streamline their skincare routines, reflecting the overarching cost-of-living crisis and fatigue from the era of the 10-step Korean skincare routine.

“I think people are trying to simplify their lives. They want time for the important stuff, like, friends, family, sleep, those sorts of things.” But at the end of the day, she says something as straightforward as an inexpensive drugstore moisturiser would likely deliver a similar result. 

Perhaps the true cause behind all those impressive before-and-after photos is simply from people stripping down their excessive routines and going back to basics. If you‘re wanting to brave the beef for yourself, explore the Tuttofare range here. 

To read more on beef tallow, head here.