I started a handmade soap business way back in 2009, when I was a new homemaker. While I’ve transitioned to selling mostly online, for years I sold my products at farmers markets and craft shows.
I’ve had hours and hours of customer interaction and for YEARS, I had to defend my use of beef tallow and pork lard in my soaps. The occasional customer would even pick up a bar, look at the ingredients, and gingerly set it down and back away. There I was, living in America’s Dairyland, (i. e., cows galore) and rural farm country and customers wanted only vegan products. One shop in Madison, Wisconsin would only carry my soaps if I made a vegetable oil variation for them. So silly.
Many other soapmakers in the area offered only vegan products but I held stubbornly to tallow and lard in most of my soaps. I won over a lot of people who loved how it made their skin feel and look.
The popularity of tallow
Things have changed dramatically in recent days. Everywhere I look, I see advertisements for skin care products that contain tallow. Ten years ago, I’d make a single serving of tallow balm, just for me, because it would have been a waste of ingredients to try to sell it.
Tallow in bath and body products isn’t new. Not hardly. I’ll point out just one little anecdote to illustrate this fact. The first ingredient of Ivory bar soap is….tallow. (It’s listed as sodium tallowate, which is just beef fat that’s undergone the chemical reaction that’s changed it to soap.) It’s not the only brand, either. If you’ve read any books about American pioneer days, you’ll recall that beef fat was the common fat for their annual supply of handmade soap.
There are actually two camps of people I’ve observed weighing in on the recent tallow trend. One is the group that thinks tallow is the greatest thing ever, that it heals all their skin issues. These folks have tried it and have found it to be as great as advertised.
I do need to acknowledge that there still remains the other group, one that’s appalled that anyone would put beef fat on their skin—as if people are smearing it on their skin in globs. (These people are perfectly fine eating it, though, and coating their GI tract with it. Much more civilized.) A couple of days ago, I read someone advising others against using any products containing tallow, as all that grease would clog your drains and the result would be expensive plumbing bills. Sigh.
Why it’s so good
First and most importantly, tallow is excellent for human skin, as people are realizing. The oils on human skin are more similar to tallow than say, an avocado or an olive. That shouldn’t be a surprise. As a result, our skin absorbs the nourishment that beef tallow offers.
But there are many other reasons why tallow should rule the day. It only seems reasonable to make the most of the whole animal if you’re going to use one part. I don’t see many people shrinking away in horror at a steak.
Sustainability is a word thrown around rather haphazardly lately, but in this situation, it’s a valid consideration. I live in the United States, which means many oils, like coconut, almond, and palm, aren’t produced in significant quantities in my part of the world. Here in the U.S. (and a fair number of other countries), tallow is one of the most easily-sourced fats.
Tallow brings amazing creaminess, hardness, and moisturizing qualities to soap. It doesn’t make sense for me to have palm oil shipped from across the world when it shares many of the qualities of tallow, which is basically a local ingredient to me. I used to get it from a local butcher and render it myself—no shipping necessary!
And that’s a little bit about my love for tallow. I haven’t even discussed French fries or homemade potato chips yet, but that can wait for another day.
For today, to close my little rant, use the tallow. For many reasons, it’s a good idea.
