Tallow is taking the world by storm, and I am here for it!!

If you've had the pleasure of using tallow, you'll understand why. It's natural, nourishing, and surprisingly similar to our skin's own oils.

I've already shared how I render and purify beef tallow, my unscented tallow soap, my whipped tallow balms, vanilla infused tallow, and coffee infused tallow. So I think it's time to share my amazing tallow lip balm recipe.

This lip balm is thick and has stick! It's long lasting, matte, and great for everyone in the family.

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Jump to:

The Benefits of Tallow for Your Skin
Ingredients You'll Need!
Why Use Beeswax?
Making Tallow Lip Balm
Measuring By Weight
Batch + Storage
Ingredients + Supplies
Pin This Tallow Lip Balm Recipe!
Comments

The Benefits of Tallow for Your Skin

Tallow is a powerhouse of hydration and nourishment, thanks to its unique composition of fatty acids. It closely mimics the natural oils found in human skin, making it an incredibly effective and gentle skin care ingredient.⁵

Fatty Acids in Tallow and Their Benefits:

Oleic Acid
Acting as an emollient, oleic acid helps to lock in moisture and keep your skin feeling soft and supple. It also supports the skin's natural repair processes, making it especially beneficial for dry or damaged skin.¹
Palmitic Acid
Known for its smoothing properties, palmitic acid is both an emollient and a moisturizer. It creates a protective layer on the skin, promoting a soft and even texture while shielding against environmental stressors.^{2 3}
Stearic Acid
With its creamy, waxy feel, stearic acid helps to prevent moisture loss by forming a protective barrier on the skin's surface. This barrier not only keeps skin hydrated but also protects it from external irritants.⁴

Ingredients You'll Need!

Tallow: Choose a high quality, grass fed tallow that's been purified for skin care use. This type of tallow is more likely to be scentless. If you're not sure, you can always use my guide to purify the tallow you have!

Carrier Oil: You'll need to choose a carrier oil for your tallow balm. I list a few options in the section below. Consider the qualities of your carrier oil when adding to your balm. My favorite is sweet almond oil in this recipe.

Beeswax: Here on the homestead we've got our own beehives, so I am able to use rendered beeswax from my very own hives! If you don't have hives, beeswax pastilles can make it easier to measure.

Ingredients required for this tallow lip balm recipe.

Choosing Your Carrier Oil

Any oil you choose to blend with your tallow comes with its own qualities and benefits. Here are a couple of suggestions:

Sweet Almond Oil: This smooth liquid oil has a low scent and is light in color, so it won't discolor your lip balm. It's got an average absorption speed and is great for your skin. Opt for unrefined when purchasing. Choose an alternative oil if you have nut allergies! ¹¹

Grapeseed Oil: This is a great, inexpensive oil to have on hand if you're into DIY skincare and body formulations. It's a mild oil, with a neutral color, little to no scent, and absorbs quickly into the skin. ⁶

Jojoba Oil: Unrefined, golden jojoba oil has a pleasant, mild scent. Jojoba mimics our own skin's sebum which makes it great at locking in moisture. This is a more expensive option. ⁷

Olive Oil: We all have olive oil in the cupboard making olive oil an easy option. Olive oil is heavy and takes a while to absorb into the skin, it also comes with a hint of color, and is somewhat fragrant, so it's not my first choice. If you do want to use it, opt for a high quality, extra virgin oil. ⁸

Rosehip Oil: Unrefined rosehip oil is made my pressing the seeds of the rosehip plant. This oil absorbs very quickly and leaves a luxurious dry feeling on the skin. ⁹

Sunflower Oil: This is another great inexpensive, low odor, low color carrier oil that you should add to your DIY body care stash. It's a fast absorbing oil that is great in balms and butters. Look for sunflower seed oils that say "high lineolic" on the label for the best skin benefits. ¹⁰

Spoiler: My favorite is sweet almond oil!

Homemade tallow lip balm in various tubes.

Why Use Beeswax?

Beeswax is a crucial ingredient in lip balms because it creates a protective barrier that locks moisture into your lips while providing structure to keep the balm from melting in warm temperatures. It also contributes a smooth finish and pleasant texture.

The key to a perfect lip balm lies in finding the right ratio of beeswax to oils - too little will result in an overly soft product, while too much creates a waxy balm that's difficult to apply.

Beeswax Alternatives

If you don't have beeswax or can't use it due to an allergy, there are great alternatives on the market.

Common plant-based alternatives to beeswax include candelilla wax, carnauba wax, and soy wax. Candelilla wax is the most popular substitute, using about half the amount as beeswax since it's harder. Carnauba wax makes balms very glossy and firm but can feel brittle if used alone - caranuba should be used at about half the amount of beeswax, and may be better if used in conjunction with candelilla, as it can be gritty.

Making Tallow Lip Balm

The secret of this balm is in the ratio; 1:1:1. That's it! 1 part tallow, 1 part beeswax, 1 part carrier oil.

Melt The Oils

Add 30g rendered tallow, 30g beeswax, and 30g of your chosen carrier oil to a double boiler and melt over low heat.
It's important to use a double boiler to keep the wax out of your good pots! I don't have an actual double boiler, but I do have a Pyrex measuring cup with the measurements that have worn off that I set into on top of a silicone trivet in a sauce pan when melting anything with beeswax.
Once completely melted, remove the lip balm base from heat and add any essential oils you'd like.
If you're adding essential oils, go ahead and add them at this time, stirring well to combine. Make sure that the oils chosen are not skin irritants and are used in safe quantities. Check EO Calc for safe usage rates.

Fill The Lip Balm Tubes

Pour the lip balm into your prepared tubes, leaving a small gap at the top. Return the oil mixture to the double boiler and allow the tubes to set until opaque.
Top off the tubes with the remaining oil mixture. This ensures flat tops without divots.
Put the tubes in the fridge to cool rapidly to ensure the best texture.

Filling lip balm tubes with melted tallow balm.

Topping off the lip balm once it has set.

Label Your Lip Balm

I love to label my lip balm and other handcrafted goodies. I used my Munbyn thermal printer and transparent labels for this project. I created the labels in Canva.

Measuring By Weight

I use my kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients for this recipe because I’m a firm believer in the accuracy that weighing provides. Beeswax often comes in irregular, inconsistent shapes, and tallow can be difficult to measure volume because it's firm.

Measuring them by weight is not only easier but also ensures precision, especially when scaling the recipe for larger or smaller batches.

Tallow lip balm in tubes with raw ingredients.

Batch + Storage

Batch:

Although the ingredients seem like they are in ultra small quantities this recipe gives about 6 large 15ml tubes as pictured. I like working with this quantity because I'm not making these to sell, I just like to have lip balm around, and to gift it to friends and family.

That said, if you love the recipe, feel free to scale it up - the results will stay consistent across batch sizes because I have developed this recipe by weights versus volume.

Storage:

I find the shelf life of this homemade lip balm to be about a year, so keep that in mind while you're making it - I try to only make up what I can use or gift within a reasonable timeframe.

I store mine anywhere and everywhere you may keep lip balms. Pockets, nightstand, purse, car, computer bag, desk, makeup drawer. It doesn't require any special storage considerations beyond comfortable room temperature, though I'm sure the extras would last longer if stored in a cool, dark place until you're ready to use.

Ingredients + Supplies

More Tallow Goodness!

Tallow Lip Balm Recipe

Prep Time20

Yield: 6 oversized tubes

Author: Allyson Letal - Boreal Bloom Homestead

Materials

30 g tallow
30 g beeswax
30 g carrier oil

Instructions

Melt The Oils

Add 30g rendered tallow, 30g beeswax, and 30g of your chosen carrier oil to a double boiler and melt over low heat. It's important to use a double boiler to keep the wax out of your good pots!
Once completely melted, remove the lip balm base from heat and add any essential oils you'd like. If you're adding essential oils, go ahead and add them at this time, stirring well to combine. Make sure that the oils chosen are not skin irritants and are used in safe quantities. Check EO Calc for safe usage rates.

Fill The Lip Balm Tubes

Pour the lip balm into your prepared tubes, leaving a small gap at the top. Return the oil mixture to the double boiler and allow the tubes to set until opaque.
Top off the tubes with the remaining oil mixture. This ensures flat tops without divots.
Put the tubes in the fridge to cool rapidly to ensure the best texture.

Notes

Batch:

Although the ingredients seem like they are in ultra small quantities this recipe gives about 6 oversized 15 ml lip balm tubes. I like working with this quantity because I'm not making these to sell, I just like to have lip balm around, and to gift it to friends and family.

That said, if you love the recipe, feel free to scale it up - the results will stay consistent across batch sizes because I have developed this recipe by weights versus volume.

Storage:

I find the shelf life of this homemade tallow lip balm to be about a year, so keep that in mind while you're making it - I try to only make up what I can use or gift within a reasonable timeframe.

I store mine anywhere and everywhere you may keep lip balms. Pockets, nightstand, purse, car, computer bag, desk, makeup drawer. It doesn't require any special storage considerations, though I'm sure the extras would last longer if stored in a cool, dark place until you're ready to use.