Grass-fed tallow for skin: what it means and why it matters

"Grass-fed" is all over tallow balm labels. But what does grass-fed tallow actually mean, does it matter for your skin, and how do you know you're getting it? Here's the straight answer, without the hype.

What is grass-fed tallow?

Tallow is rendered beef fat. Grass-fed tallow comes from cattle raised mainly on grass and pasture, rather than mainly on grain. The fat is gently melted down and strained, and the clean fat that's left is what goes into the balm.

Is grass-fed tallow better for skin?

You'll see some big claims online about grass-fed tallow. We'll be honest: we don't make claims we can't back up. Here's why we chose grass-fed anyway:

• It's what we'd want on our own skin. If the main ingredient is beef fat, we want to know where it came from and how the animals were raised.
• Traceability. Our tallow is grass-fed and sourced in the UK, and we keep our supplier's grass-fed statement on file.
• It's what people ask for. When you're putting something on your face every day, the source matters.

Grass-fed vs grain-fed tallow

Both are tallow, and both make a rich balm. The difference is how the cattle were raised: grass-fed means a diet mainly of grass and pasture, grain-fed means mostly grain. If the source matters to you, look for grass-fed on the label and a brand that will tell you where it comes from.

How to tell if a tallow balm really uses grass-fed tallow

• The label says it. "Grass-fed beef tallow", not just "tallow".
• The brand names a country. "Sourced in the UK" is more useful than "premium".
• You can ask. A decent brand will happily tell you where their tallow comes from.
• Tallow is high on the list. Ingredients are listed from most to least. If tallow is first, there's more of it than anything else.

Buying grass-fed tallow balm in the UK

Look for a short ingredient list, grass-fed tallow named first, no water (so no emulsifiers or preservatives needed), honest claims and a proper guarantee. Buying from a UK maker also means quicker delivery and a real person to ask if you've got a question.

Our tallow

The Original is made in small batches in Clydebank, Scotland, with grass-fed beef tallow sourced in the UK. Tallow is the first ingredient, then candelilla wax, Golden Jojoba Oil and olive squalane. That's all four. See what each ingredient does, read how we started, or try The Original with our 60-day guarantee.