4) INGREDIENTS - beef tallow

2.3) Beef Tallow

2.3a) What is tallow?

Tallow is made with suet (kidney fat) or other types of beef fat. The fat is rendered to remove water and proteins, leaving a stable mixture of fatty acids (mostly in the form of triglycerides) that have a range of potential skin benefits. If the fat is sufficiently high quality, the result is a lush liquid gold (see the banner image above of Kacow! beef tallow rendered from Juniper Hill Farm organic beef fat) with almost no odour.

2.3b) Tallow Tales

Tallow has a long history of being used as a cooking fat, in soaps, and more recently in biofuels.⁹ In 2021 researchers found China’s oldest known face cream sealed in a bronze cosmetic jar. The jar was dated to approximately 675 BC (~2,700 years ago). Analysis showed that it contained beef tallow (we can safely assume it was organic beef tallow!) and ‘moonmilk’ (calcium carbonate from a cave).¹³

About 650 years later (in the AD 70s) Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder completed the final book in his ‘Natural History’ encyclopaedia series which aimed to collate all knowledge about the natural world, in which he offered the following skincare advice:

“Fat from a sow that has not littered is used with very great advantage by women as a cosmetic, but for itch any kind is good, mixed with a third part of beef suet and pitch, all being warmed together.”¹⁴

Pliny also recommended curing flatulence by mixing calf dung with wine.¹⁴ Some of his ideas stood the test of time, some not so much.

¹³

2.3c) Components of tallow

According to the USDA 100g of beef tallow contains:¹⁵

• 50g saturated fatty acids

  • 0.9g lauric acid:

    • Possesses activity against enveloped viruses, bacteria, fungi.¹⁰

  • 3.7g myristic acid

  • 24.9g palmitic acid

    • A major component of the human skin lipid matrix.

  • 18.9g stearic acid:

    • A major component of the human skin lipid matrix.

    • Shown to improve hydration and barrier function in skin.¹⁶

• 42% monounsaturated

  • 4.2g palmitoleic acid (4.2g)

  • 36g oleic acid:

    • A penetration enhancer which improves hydration.^16,17

    • Higher levels of oleic acid in the skin (which lowers the inflammatory response) correlate with improvements in psoriasis.¹⁶

  • 0.3g eicosenoic acid

• 4% polyunsaturated

  • 3.1g linoleic acid:

    • An emollient¹⁷ which has been shown to decrease inflammatory cytokines and promotes wound healing.¹⁶)

    • Grass-fed beef also naturally contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)—a naturally occurring isomer of linoleic acid produced by rumen microbes. New Zealand tallow generally contains higher concentrations of CLA than grain-fed beef.¹⁸ Experimental and clinical studies have investigated CLA for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.¹⁹

  • 0.6g α-linolenic acid

• 109mg cholesterol

• 80mg choline

• 3mg vitamin E:

  • Defends against lipid peroxidation.

  • Protects lipid composition, thus promoting diversity of lipophilic microbes¹ (nature added this to protect the lovely fats from oxidation).

• A tiny bit of selenium and vitamin D

• Some studies also report finding:

  • Vitamin K

  • Vitamin A:

    • Regulates the immune system with a pro-inflammatory response against pathogens via expression of Toll-like receptors 2 and 3, and AMPs.¹

    • AMP expression impacts the microbiome in ways that reduce acne (some species of C. acnes) and fungi (C.albicans, Aspergillus spp. And Microsporum spp.).¹

    • Controls S. aureus, thus benefiting atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.¹

  • Vitamin B12⁹

Tallow is made up of exceptionally stable fats. A study in the Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science (2021)¹⁷ performed tests on tallow extracted using a range of temperatures and techniques. Lower temperature and shorter duration rendering produced the best fat profile, but only marginally. Regardless of temperature and technique, all tallow produced showed:

• Very low moisture content (meaning extremely low risk of microbial growth)

• No detected microbial growth (no bacteria, molds, fungi, yeasts)

• Very low oxidation levels (meaning that the tallow is extremely resistant to going rancid)

• Very low heavy metals (this study was based in Thailand - heavy metals are well regulated in New Zealand livestock)

• They were high in a range of fatty acids and antioxidants

The study authors blended the tallow with shea butter and beeswax into moisturiser bars which were put through six cycles of heating and cooling to create a stability challenge. The bars remained stable throughout.

Palmitic and stearic acid (along with a dash of oleic) are major players in the lipid-matrix (the ‘mortar’) of human skin. This is what people mean when they say that beef tallow is ‘biocompatible’ with human skin. It is not that case that beef tallow and human skin are highly similar in composition, but beef tallow provides a handful of fatty acids that can integrate into the skin matrix and aid in barrier function and skin health.¹⁶ The fats in tallow can also act as vehicles to help transport beneficial compounds into keratinocytes.¹⁶

A paper in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology (2025)¹⁶ points out that some of these lipid components in beef tallow have the potential to worsen acne too (oleic acid may increase sebaceous gland activity). In all likelihood, individual reactions will vary. While there is evidence to suggest skin benefits from beef tallow, this may not apply to every person.

2.3d) Does the evidence for beef tallow support the claims?

There are a multitude of claims on social media about how miraculous beef tallow is for skin. The science to back up these claims is sparse. There are very few studies directly examining the effect of beef tallow on skin, and even fewer examining the effect of beef tallow in isolation (not blended with other ingredients). There are unlikely to be many such studies in the future. Randomised controlled trials are expensive, and so far beef tallow skincare products seem to be produced by small businesses.

What we do have is:

• Supporting evidence: There are a vast number of studies detailing the effects on skin of individual components contained within beef tallow. We know a lot about the potential benefits.

• Anecdotal evidence: This has been accumulating for thousands of years, and continues to do so today on every social media platform.

• A lack of evidence of harm: We have no reason to suspect any significant adverse effects of topical tallow when it is produced and stored appropriately.

In deciding whether or not a cosmetic is good for you, two factors are of utmost importance:

1. What is in the cosmetics

2. What is NOT in the cosmetics

Throw a bunch of parabens and phthalates and surfactants into a beef tallow moisturiser, and it will probably be no better than anything else out there. But if you find a good, clean product, sourced from high quality organic beef, it may be worth giving it a try (an N=1: a study with one participant) to see if you like the results. If you are under the care of a doctor for a skin condition, it’s best practice to run any change of skincare product past them first though.

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