Whipped Tallow Balm

So.. You've rendered and purified tallow, made tallow soap, infused your tallow with vanilla beans and made coffee infused tallow, now what?

I think it's time to make our own whipped tallow balm.

Not only is whipped tallow all the rage right now, and for good reason - it's an incredible treat for your skin, it's also unbelievably spendy - my sister bought a 4oz jar of whipped bison tallow for $50!!!

So yeah, we're gonna save a pile of money, nourish our skin and make our own tallow balm for a couple of dollars instead of dozens.

Jump to:

• The Benefits of Tallow for Skin
• What Is Whipped Tallow?
• Ingredients You'll Need!
• Choosing Your Carrier Oil
• Making Whipped Tallow
• Tips + Tricks
• Using Your Whipped Tallow Balm
• Batch + Storage
• Ingredients + Supplies
• Comments

The Benefits of Tallow for 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

Potential Pitfalls

While tallow is great for the skin, emollients - even homemade ones - can cause allergic reactions depending on included ingredients. Fats and oils can clog pores leading to acne or blemishes. ¹³

We can minimize these risks by making a clean homemade product, full of healthy natural ingredients, choosing our carrier oils carefully, and avoiding fragrance oils.

What Is Whipped Tallow?

Whipped tallow is simply purified tallow that has been combined with a carrier oil that is liquid at room temperatures and whipped into a dreamy consistency.

Learn How: Render and purify your own tallow!

What Isn't Whipped Tallow?

Tallow is beef fat, and as such does not technically moisturize the skin. You'd need a water based lotion to moisturize the skin, but that doesn't mean that tallow isn't great for your skin's health.

Tallow, whipped or otherwise, is an emollient, which means it coats the skin in an oily layer that helps trap moisture within the skin. Emollient oils and fats help to prevent moisture loss from the outer layers of the skin - so while they do not directly moisturize the skin, they do perform and important role in keeping it hydrated. ¹²

Is Whipped Tallow Greasy?

Surprisingly, this luxurious whipped balm isn't greasy at all - unless you use too much! Tallow goes so far on the skin, so I recommend always using less than you think you need and going back for more if required.

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! For this batch, I used my vanilla infused tallow - you'll see the little vanilla "caviar" in the balm.

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. I love jojoba oil, but it results in a less firm balm, while olive oil, sweet almond, and sunflower tend to set up firmer.

Arrowroot Powder: This ingredient is optional, but can help cut the greasy feeling of your balm. I don't always add it, but depending on the intended use of the tallow, it can be beneficial!

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:

• 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 I use my jojoba tallow as face cream!
• 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 into the skin and leaves a luxurious dry feeling on the skin. This is a great option if you find tallow oily and want to reduce the oily feeling. 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
• Sweet Almond Oil: This smooth liquid oil has a low scent and is light in color, so it won't discolor your tallow balms. It's got an average absorption speed and is great for your skin. Opt for unrefined when purchasing. ¹¹

Making Whipped Tallow

Melt The Oils

1. In a double boiler or small saucepan, gently melt 8 oz (225g) rendered and purified tallow with 2 oz (56g) of your chosen carrier oils over low heat. Ensuring that the tallow becomes fully liquid during the melting stage helps to prevent separating of the oils over time, a common mistake is to only partially melt the tallow which can cause the liquid oil to drop out of the emulsion over time.

It's important to use purified tallow to reduce the likelihood of a beefy smell in your balm. If you've made vanilla, coffee, or other infused tallow, you can absolutely use it in this whipped tallow recipe. For these photos, I am using my vanilla infused tallow, but have also used plain tallow, and my coffee infused tallow with great results.

Cool The Oils

1. Transfer the oils from the double boiler into the bowl of your stand mixer or a bowl that you can use a hand held mixer in. 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.
2. Allow the tallow to rest at room temperature for 45-60 minutes, or until firmish. The tallow will get cloudy and you'll be able to leave a finger print in it. Alternatively, you can place the bowl into the fridge and stir every 5 minutes or so, ensuring to scrape down the sides to prevent chunks and grittiness.

Whip The Tallow

1. Using the whisk attachment for your stand mixer or hand held mixer, whip the tallow mixture until light and fluffy. If you're adding arrowroot powder, this is the time to add it. Start with 1/4 teaspoon, whip to incorporate, and test.
   TIP: If the tallow does not hold a peak, it may be too warm. You can place it in the fridge for a few minutes and then whip again. Avoid leaving the hardening tallow in the fridge too long or you'll get gritty whipped tallow.

Transfer To A Container.

1. Use a spatula to scrape the tallow from the mixing bowl and transfer it to a clean storage container, I like mason jars. Alternatively, you can place the whipped tallow into a piping bag and pipe it into containers for a more luxe vibe.
2. Keep your tallow balm in a sealed container at room temperature, away from direct sunlight and temperature swings. A dark cupboard in the bathroom is perfect!

Tips + Tricks

• I always weigh my ingredients for formulas like this. Not only is a hard oil like tallow easier to measure when using weights, but it also ensures consistent results each time I make the recipe.
• If you find your tallow balm too firm after whipping and cooling, you can always gently remelt it, add a bit more of your liquid carrier oil, and then repeat the whipping process. Alternatively, you can simply rub it between your hands for 1-2 seconds to melt it before applying and increase the oil in the next batch.
• This whipped balm can be scented with essential oils, though, I often skip that step completely by using my infused tallow! That said, the bright white tallow in these photos is plain tallow scented with vanilla oleoresin and sweet orange oil.
• Adding a "pinch" of arrowroot powder to this recipe can add a dry, powdery finish to the balm by absorbing some of the greasy feel. I like to add arrowroot when I know I'm going to be using my tallow exclusively on my hands! If you choose to include it, start with 1/4 teaspoon - then whip to incorporate, test, and work up from there to find your ideal amount. A little goes a long way.

Using Your Whipped Tallow Balm

While you can simply rub your whipped tallow into your skin whenever you feel like, you can maximize its benefits by using it on damp, hydrated skin.

I always apply mine after a warm bath or shower, I simply pat my skin dry, then apply a small amount to my face or body as soon as possible after leaving the shower.

Batch + Storage

Batch

This recipe, as written makes about 10oz (280g) of whipped tallow by weight - the whipping process incorporates air and increases volume. If you want to scale up the recipe, it's very easy to do, simply keep the ratio the same. 8 oz tallow to 2 oz carrier oil. I'd avoid scaling the recipe down, only because it can be difficult to get a good whip in your stand mixer with a smaller volume!

Storage

Whipped tallow is made from oils that can go rancid, so it's important to store it in the proper way. Keep it in an airtight container to prevent premature oxidization, and keep it away from direct sunlight and temperature swings to prevent breakdown of the mixture and separation of your oils.

Ingredients + Supplies

• beef tallow
• jojoba oil
• sweet almond oil
• grape seed oil
• rose hip oil
• arrowroot powder

Pin This Guide To Homemade Whipped Tallow!

Sources:

¹ https://draxe.com/nutrition/oleic-acid/#Benefits

² https://www.webmd.com/diet/what-is-palmitic-acid

³ https://draxe.com/nutrition/palmitic-acid

⁴ https://draxe.com/nutrition/what-is-stearic-acid/

⁵ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11193910

⁶ https://www.humblebeeandme.com/project/grapeseed-oil/

⁷ https://www.humblebeeandme.com/project/jojoba-oil/

⁸ https://www.humblebeeandme.com/project/olive-oil/

⁹ https://www.humblebeeandme.com/project/rosehip-oil/

¹⁰ https://www.humblebeeandme.com/project/sunflower-oil/

¹¹ https://www.humblebeeandme.com/project/sweet-almond-oil/

¹² https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/medications/emollients-topical

¹³ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/23305-emollients