What is tallow and why is it in my skincare?

If you told me a few years ago that I’d be putting beef fat on my face, I probably would have laughed.

Tallow just doesn’t sound very glamorous, does it?

But once I started learning about it, I realized that tallow has been used for generations — and there’s actually a pretty good reason it has made its way back into my skincare routine.

So, what exactly is tallow?

Tallow is simply rendered beef fat. That's it.

When it’s properly rendered and purified, you’re left with a smooth, rich fat that can be used in skincare. And unlike a lot of modern skincare ingredients with names that require a chemistry degree to pronounce, tallow is a pretty straightforward ingredient.

And that's one of the things I love about it.

So why put tallow on your skin?

The biggest reason is that tallow is naturally rich in fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K.

The fatty acid profile of tallow is also similar in some ways to the fats naturally found in our skin. That makes it a wonderful moisturizing ingredient and one that I really love using in simple skincare formulas.

For me, that was the lightbulb moment.

I started thinking about skincare differently.

Instead of stripping the skin, drying it out and then layering product after product on top to try to fix it, what if we started with ingredients that simply helped moisturize and support the skin?

That's where tallow really shines.

But isn't putting beef fat on your face... weird?

Yep. I get it.

The first time I heard about tallow skincare, I thought it sounded pretty strange too.

But here's the thing: the ingredient itself isn't nearly as weird as the name makes it sound.

Once tallow is properly rendered and purified, it doesn't smell like a steakhouse and it doesn't feel like you're rubbing cooking grease on your face.

A good tallow moisturizer is soft, rich and melts into the skin.

And a little goes a long way.

Not all tallow is created equal

This is something I feel really strongly about.

When I say tallow, I'm not talking about just any beef fat.

At All Good, I use only the highest-quality grass-fed, grass-finished beef tallow.

Where it comes from matters to me. What the animal was fed matters to me. And the quality of the finished tallow matters to me.

I wouldn't put something on my own skin that I wasn't comfortable using myself, so I'm pretty picky about the tallow I choose.

It's carefully rendered and purified before it ever makes its way into an All Good product.

That's important to me because there can be a big difference between simply seeing “tallow” on an ingredient list and actually knowing where that tallow came from and how it was produced.

For me, quality starts with the source.

And that's why I don't cut corners when it comes to the tallow in All Good.

Why I chose tallow for All Good

When I started making my own skincare, I wanted to keep things as simple as possible.

I didn't want a product with a giant ingredient list just because it looked impressive on the label.

I wanted ingredients that had a purpose.

Tallow checked a lot of those boxes for me.

It's simple. It's naturally rich in fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins. It provides rich moisture. And it has been used for a very long time — long before we had endless aisles of skincare products promising to do everything from “repairing” our skin to making us look 20 years younger overnight.

I'm not saying tallow is a miracle ingredient.

I'm saying I like knowing what's in my skincare and why I'm using it.

That's a big part of what All Good is about.

And tallow doesn't have to do everything

One of the things I love about tallow is that it doesn't need a dozen other ingredients to make it worthwhile.

But that doesn't mean I use it alone in everything.

Depending on the product, I combine our tallow with carefully chosen oils, botanicals and other ingredients that complement the formula.

Every ingredient has a reason for being there.

That's really the philosophy behind All Good: use good ingredients, keep things simple, and don't add stuff just for the sake of adding it.

And yes, I use it too.

That's probably the most important part.

I didn't start making tallow skincare because I thought it would make a great business idea.

I started because I wanted better options for my own skin.

I wanted something simple. Something moisturizing. Something made with ingredients I could understand and feel good about using.

And after using it myself, I started sharing it with other people.

That's how All Good grew.

So if you've never tried tallow skincare before, I completely understand if you're sitting there thinking, “I'm still not sure about putting beef fat on my face.”

I was right there with you.

But sometimes the old-fashioned stuff deserves another look.

And once you try it, you might just understand why I became a little obsessed with it.

Simple ingredients. The highest-quality tallow. Good stuff. Nothing unnecessary.

That's what All Good is all about.