What is tallow balm? The honest answer

Short version: tallow balm is beef fat, cleaned up and turned into a balm for your skin. Long version below, with no miracle claims, because you've probably read enough of those already.

What is tallow?

Tallow is rendered beef fat. "Rendered" just means it's gently melted down and strained, so you're left with the clean fat and none of the bits. People have used it for centuries: candles, soap, cooking, and yes, rubbing it into dry, cracked hands.

The tallow in our balm is grass-fed and sourced in the UK.

So what's a tallow balm?

A tallow balm is tallow blended with a few other oils or waxes so it's nicer to use: easier to spread, lighter on the skin, and less like a block of lard. It's a balm, not a cream, which means there's no water in it.

That matters more than it sounds. Most moisturisers are mostly water. Water and oil don't mix, so in go emulsifiers to hold them together. Water can go off, so in go preservatives. Take the water out and you need neither. What's left is the part that was doing the work. Here's how tallow balm compares with moisturiser.

Why put it on your skin?

Your skin makes its own oil. It's mostly fats, wax esters and squalene. Tallow is mostly fats, which is a big part of why people like it on dry, tight skin: it's rich, it feels nourishing, and a little goes a long way.

That's also why we didn't stop at tallow. The Original adds olive squalane and Golden Jojoba Oil, which is made up mostly of liquid wax esters. Together with the tallow, that covers all three. We call it the TriMatch™ Formula: most tallow balms give you 1 of the 3 lipids your skin makes, ours gives you all 3.

What people use it for

• Dry, tight skin on the face, morning and night
• Rough hands, elbows and heels (here's a winter routine)
• Winter skin that's had a hard time from the wind and the central heating
• One balm for the whole bathroom shelf, for men and women

What tallow balm won't do

It's a moisturising balm. It isn't a medicine and it won't cure skin conditions. If you've got a skin condition, have a chat with your GP or pharmacist first. Everyone's skin is different, so patch test a small area before you go all in.

Does tallow balm smell?

Basic tallow balms can smell of, well, tallow. We spent 23 batches getting ours to a lower tallow odour than many basic tallow balms. The Original has no added fragrance, so there's no perfume covering anything up. It smells faintly of what it's made from. More on the smell question here.

How to use it

Start with a tiny amount. Warm it between your fingertips until it softens, then press and massage it into clean skin. For your face, a pea-sized amount or less is usually plenty. Hands, elbows and heels can take a bit more. You can always add more. Digging out half the jar on day one is unnecessary enthusiasm. Here's the full step-by-step for your face.

What to look for in a tallow balm

• A short ingredient list. You should be able to read it in one breath.
• Grass-fed tallow, with the source named. What grass-fed actually means.
• No water, so there's no need for emulsifiers or preservatives.
• Honest claims. If a balm promises to cure skin conditions or wipe out wrinkles, be suspicious.
• A proper guarantee, so you're not stuck with a jar you don't get on with.

Our take

We're Bobby and Vito (he's 9, he's the boss), and we make Talo Malo in small batches in Clydebank, Scotland. The Original is four ingredients: grass-fed beef tallow, olive squalane, Golden Jojoba Oil and candelilla wax. That's the whole list. See what each one does, or read the questions people ask us most.