Walking through the Redondo Beach farmers market, I found myself staring at a small amber jar labeled \u201cBison Tallow Moisturizer.\u201d Of all the things I expected to encounter between the heirloom tomatoes and artisanal honey, rendered animal fat marketed as skincare wasn\u2019t one of them. Intrigued, I asked the vendor for an explanation. He told me that because animals like cows and bison share a similar fatty acid profile with humans, tallow-based creams are uniquely compatible with our skin. In practical terms, he said, they help lock in moisture, reduce water loss, and (perhaps most enticingly) keep wrinkles at bay.<\/p>\n
These kind of moisturizers are the latest skincare trend sweeping the market. While attending this year\u2019s Expo West<\/a> in Anaheim, which bills itself as one of the industry\u2019s largest trade show and conventions for \u201cnatural\u201d and \u201chealthy\u201d products, I was struck by the number of exhibitors showcasing cosmetic creations featuring tallow as their starring ingredient.<\/p>\n So is rubbing animal fat on your face worth it? Or is it simply an evidence-lacking marketing scheme capitalizing on the appeal of \u201cnatural\u201d (more on this term to come) skincare? I decided to talk to some experts and conduct my own personal hydration experiment to find out whether the claims are legitimate or basically all bull.<\/p>\n What others are saying<\/p>\n Dr. Heather Rogers, a dermatologist in Seattle and founder of the Doctor Rogers skincare line<\/a>, told me that there are few modern scientific studies examining beef tallow as a skincare ingredient. One of the most frequently cited papers dates back to 1994 and evaluated animal fats in combination with other oils, making it difficult to draw conclusions about the benefits of pure beef tallow for conditions such as eczema or acne.<\/p>\n As for claims that the substance mimics the amino acid profile of human skin, Rogers said the comparison is often overstated. Tallow consists of a much higher amount of saturated fat compared to our own sebum. According to Rogers, \u201cIt\u2019s not identical.\u201d Human skin is composed primarily of ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol, which are not classified as saturated.<\/p>\n Dr. Elizabeth Bahar Houshmand, a dermatologist practicing at Houshmand Dermatology<\/a> in Dallas, said it\u2019s not just the lipids themselves that matter, but the proportions in which they appear. \u201cTallow does not replicate that [human skin lipid] structure.\u201d<\/p>\n All the same, the fatty acid profile of tallow does overlap with some lipids found in human skin and sebum, including palmitic, stearic and oleic acids. Tallow may also contain small amounts of vitamins A, D, E and K, though Houshmand pointed out that those trace amounts are not comparable to a formulated retinol product, where concentration, stability, delivery mechanisms and clinical outcomes have all been studied.<\/p>\n Ram\u00f3n Pag\u00e1n, a cosmetic chemist and independent consultant based in New York City, sees another force helping drive tallow\u2019s popularity: branding. In many corners of the internet, tallow isn\u2019t marketed simply as a moisturizer but as a return to something more primal and distinctly masculine. \u201cThere\u2019s such a push for this rugged, of-the-earth mentality when it comes to men\u2019s skincare. Conventional cosmetics are deemed as \u2018effeminate\u2019 due to unnecessary misogyny. Actually, what can be more manly than killing a cow and spreading its fat on your face?\u201d<\/p>\n That marketing often overlaps with another popular selling point: the word \u201cnatural.\u201d Yet none of the experts I interviewed viewed the term as inherently meaningful from a scientific standpoint.<\/p>\n \u201cThere seems to be a widespread chemophobia,\u201d said Pag\u00e1n. The irony, he noted, is that \u201ceverything is a chemical.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPoison ivy is natural,\u201d Houshmand said. \u201cEssential oils are natural and can be irritating allergens. And \u2018chemical-free skincare\u2019 is scientifically impossible; water is a chemical, lipids are chemicals, and vitamins are chemicals.\u201d<\/p>\n The experiment<\/p>\n So I went ahead and swapped my normal creams containing high amounts of glycerin, aloe and other plant-based ingredients for tallow-based alternatives for a two-week period. I applied beef and bison tallows from three companies. Each blended its tallow with additional ingredients \u2014 jojoba oil being the most significant. I rotated among brands to lessen the likelihood that these additives would heavily influence my results.<\/p>\n Below are my findings after using only the listed products (aside from my established cleansing and toning routine). You can generally find these items for between $15 and $40 for a two- to four-ounce jar.<\/p>\n Sky&Sol<\/a> advertised a \u201cnatural, restorative\u201d cream offering 48 hours of nourishment. Ancient Nature<\/a> was the brand I stumbled upon in Redondo Beach. Owner Bruno Neves uses bison instead of beef fat and also offers deodorants and coffee exfoliants.Stoked Beekeeping Co.<\/a> offered a manuka honey and tallow balm. Manuka honey is known for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.<\/p>\n On day three, I started to notice something similar among all three brands: staying power. Unlike the plant-based moisturizers I had been using before this experiment, the tallow-based creams lingered on my skin for hours. They created a heavier, more occlusive layer. Aesthetically, I appreciated the glow they produced. My skin took on the sheen of someone who had just returned from a brisk run. As for smell, a common concern among skeptics, I only found the bison tallow scent noticeably strong.<\/p>\n So should you try it? Some doctors point to the fact that there are already countless evidence-backed moisturizers with decades of clinical research behind them. Others, like Rogers, put it simply: \u201cIf you\u2019re interested, try it. Know that there are better moisturizers out there, but it\u2019s not going to cause harm.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Walking through the Redondo Beach farmers market, I found myself staring at a small amber jar labeled \u201cBison…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[165597,165598,159300,23417,3655,141730,165600,165596,48,52,51,165602,47,50,49,165601,1594,18785,165599,63574,165595],"class_list":["post-413757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-animal-fat","tag-beef-tallow-skincare","tag-bison","tag-brand","tag-chemical","tag-dermatologist","tag-houshmand-dermatology","tag-human-skin","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lipid","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-moisturizer","tag-other","tag-rogers","tag-similar-fatty-acid-profile","tag-skincare","tag-tallow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}