Did you know that your skin is the largest organ in your body and it readily absorbs many of the things it comes in contact with whether bad or good? This is why some drugs can be administered via a patch! It takes a mere 26 seconds for your skin to absorb an applied substance.
It is pretty hard to find a commercial skin care product that is devoid of harmful chemicals these days. Most contain petroleum based chemicals, known hormone disruptors like parabens, known carcinogens used as preservatives like BHT and titanium dioxide. Almost all of the ingredients are chemicals, even in organic and natural products. They note on the packaging that the chemicals are plant derived, however, according to the Organic Consumer Association,
“A visit to any health food store unfortunately reveals that the majority of products in the personal care section with ‘organic’ brand claims are not USDA-certified and contain only cheap water extracts of organic herbs and maybe a few other token organic ingredients for an organic veneer. The core of such products is composed of synthetic cleansers and conditioning ingredients usually made in part with petrochemicals. According to market statistics, consumers are willing to pay significantly more for products branded ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ which they believe do not contain petrochemical-modified ingredients or toxic contaminants…When it comes to misbranding organic personal care products in the U.S., it’s almost complete anarchy and buyer beware.”
The good news is that it is surprisingly easy to make your own skin care products free of harmful chemicals. I have been experimenting with homemade beauty products since I snagged a copy of Mommypotamus’ DIY Organic Beauty eBook a few months ago. One traditional skin care ingredient that I never would have thought I would experiment with is tallow (what is tallow?). We might think rubbing tallow on our skin is crazy given that it is an ingredient completely absent from today’s commercial beauty products. However, this was a common skin care ingredient in traditional societies and even in America. Sadly, the use of tallow in skin care started to decline as our consumption of animal products started to decline.
What Makes Tallow So Great?
I think this goes without saying, but humans are mammals not plants! Tallow closely resembles our own human cellular makeup. It contains 50-55% saturated fat like our cell membranes do and it is also very similar to our own skin’s sebum, the waxy matter that lubricates and waterproofs our skin. So we can just toss modern taboo against rubbing beef fat on our faces out the window. I can tell you I have been using tallow lotion bars on my face and body for about 6 months now and have seen a reduction in redness and acne on my face and my skin is soft and supple.
I love my firm lotion bars which are excellent for travel, however, I wanted more of a cream. I still wanted to use tallow as a principle ingredient and had seen many recipes for whipped body butter but none of them contained tallow. I figured it was a worth an experiment and I am happy to say that experiment worked. I applied this body butter to my feet last night and slept in socks and boy are my feet amazingly soft this morning! Don’t walk, run to make this if you want to get your feet and body ready for summer! The addition of peppermint smells incredible and I think wakes up tired feet. You can replace the peppermint oil with whatever essential oil you like best.
Whipped Peppermint Tallow Body Butter
This recipe makes about 2 cups of body butter
Ingredients
- 1 cup of shea butter
- 1/2 cup tallow (how to render beef tallow)
- 1/2 cup of jojoba oil
- 1 teaspoon peppermint essential oi
- 2 teaspoons vitamin E oil (optional) (where to buy)
Directions
Using a double boiler or a glass bowl on top of a pot of simmering water, gently heat shea butter and tallow until melted. Remove bowl from heat and stir in jojoba oil.
Allow to chill in an ice bath for about 5 minutes and then stir in the peppermint essential oil and . Allow the mixture to continue chilling in the ice bath until it is thoroughly chilled.
Using a stand or hand mixer, whip the body butter mixture until stiff peaks form.
Scoop the mixture into airtight glass jars and store away from direct sunlight. If stored properly with the vitamin E oil added, this body butter should keep about 1 year but I bet you will use it up more quickly than that!
Further Reading from Around the Web
- Attend one of my Essential Oils 101 classes here!
- Over 25 Uses For Peppermint Essential Oil
- 20 Uses for Peppermint Essential Oil
- How To Buy Therapeutic Essential Oils
- 50 Uses For Essential Oils
Can you substitute coconut oil for the tallow? I already have some of that on hand and wondered whether it would do the same job.
I think you could!
What about substituting lard in body recipes? Do you think that would work? Our meat people at the farmers market can only get us pig fat so we’re currently rendering lard instead of tallow.
I think it might smell stronger than the tallow but you can do it.
Can I use cocoa butter instead of the shea butter? Husband bought cocoa butter thinking it was to eat but on the label it says external use only. Not sure what to do with it.
You sure can. It would smell like lovely chocolate! I use cocoa butter in my peppermint lip balm and it is divine!
Ok, great. When you say thoroughly chilled does that mean it should start hardening? It’s hardening on the bottom where the ice is.
Yes it will harden a bit. Once you put it in the mixer it will whip up! Keep going!
I just realized I put in only half a cup of cocoa butter instead of a whole cup! I guess thats prob why its not coming out of my jars and didn’t really whip up well. Its solid at room temp. Can I remelt it, add the rest of the cocoa butter and re whip it? How long should I whip it? I only have a hand mixer. I have it in two separate glass jars.
Yes I would remelt at a very low temp and add more vitamin e oil and then Re-whip. I have made this mistake before!
This looks amazing! What a great gift idea too! #oils4everyone
Silly questions: but by chill, do you mean set the mixture bowl on ice? And is this cruelty free? The only reason asking is because you’re using animal fat.
There are no silly questions. I did set the bowl on ice to chill it a bit. As for the cruelty free question – this all depends on how you source your meat. I buy pastured meat in bulk (a half cow) each Spring from a local dairy farmer where I get my raw milk. I have researched their practices and they are in my mind cruelty free from my perspective. You will have to find a source you are comfortable with. If you do not eat meat then you can substitute coconut oil.
Don’t you need a preservative to prevent the tallow aka meat fat from spoiling. And is tallow not filled with bacteria from the raw meat? Just concerned. Thanks
sorry, you may have put this somewhere already and I just can’t find it… i googled to see if I could buy beef tallow ready to go and US Wellness Meats came up, have you ever tried that / would you suggest it / have you ever used US Wellness Meats? Thank you so much! I love your blog and you are so so helpful! http://www.grasslandbeef.com/Detail.bok?no=878
-w-
I have not tried their tallow. It is so cheap and easy to make yourself…
Hi, me again, lol. I did add in the extra cocoa butter and rewhipped but its still hard at room temperature, I have to scrape it out of jar to put on my skin! Any suggestions?
It is winter – is it really cold in your house?
Cocoa butter is firmer than shea and is solid at room temp. If your finished product is solid, you need to melt it down and add more jojoba oil (or whatever oil you are using).
Hi- I made this but used Wild Orange essential oil. Prior and after putting about 2 teaspoons of EO into the batch I can still smell the tallow. Do you have this issue? Maybe I din’t render the fat long enough?
Thanks for any help
Did you use fresh fat or did you use fat from making bone broth or roasted bones?
Fresh from the butcher
Peppermint is definitely very beneficial ingredient, however, I had the only one problem with this recipe and that is the amount of it and the time it stays fresh. I had to throw like half of the container away because it was getting bad.
I am sorry to hear that. I used mine up quickly. How long did it last? Did you ensure you rendered the tallow and strained it?
This is pretty close to the pre-swim creme I make. I just use beeswax instead of tallow. The creme keeps the chlorine off my skin. I rub it on the ends of my hair and scalp line under my cap. After swimming and showering I use the butter that has shea, coconut and jojoba. I swim about 6 hours a week, so you can see where I needed something and everything commercial I checked out had one or more of the “cones” in it. Love your sight btw
Hi Lindsey! I love how you have so much awesome information about the tallow and how good it is for your skin. It is so good and yet so unknown! It’s up to us to spread the word. Lol I use tallow in my homemade soaps, and I love the way it feels when I get it all over my hands. I am looking to make a body butter incorporating both tallow and shea or cocoa butter. Does this recipe stay fresh at room temp in jars? I need it to be good for months at a time so when I make a bunch up to sell at farmers market, it won’t go bad. Plus, I’ll need to be able to give the shelf life time to my customers. Thanks so much! I can’t wait to make a batch for myself. My husband and I are expecting our firstborn, so a good butter for my belly is a must! 🙂
I have only used this for personal use. You might reach out to discuss with Shalley over at https://www.facebook.com/Buffalo.Gal.Grassfed
She makes and sells tallow based products.
Vitamin E oil! Aargh! It has become my nemesis in trying to find home diy body,facial,skin and hair care recipes… unfortunately I can not use vitamin E oil as it is has wheat in it…any good and comparable substitutes?