If you've recently started exploring more traditional skincare ingredients, you've probably encountered something that would have sounded unusual just a few years ago:
Tallow skincare.
Tallow is appearing in facial balms, whipped creams, body moisturizers, soaps and other handcrafted skincare products. But tallow itself isn't new.
At Hightower Tallow Co., we believe understanding the ingredients you put on your skin matters. So before exploring our botanical infusions, let's begin with the foundation of many of our products: tallow.
What Is Tallow?
Tallow is rendered animal fat. In skincare, beef tallow is commonly used after it has been carefully rendered and purified.
For generations, animal fats were practical ingredients used in traditional soaps, salves and household preparations.
Modern skincare eventually moved toward highly processed and synthetic formulations, but today many people are becoming interested in simpler ingredient lists and traditional ingredients again.
That's one reason tallow for skin has received so much renewed attention.
Why Is Tallow Used in Skincare?
One of tallow's most noticeable characteristics is its rich texture.
When properly formulated, it can create luxurious balms and creams that spread across the skin and leave it feeling soft and conditioned.
That's especially useful when creating products designed to help support the skin's moisture barrier and reduce the feeling of dryness.
Rather than promising that one ingredient can transform everyone's skin, we prefer a simpler philosophy:
Thoughtfully formulate good ingredients and allow each ingredient to do its job.
Is Tallow a Moisturizer?
Tallow is often used as the moisturizing base of balms and creams.
As an emollient-rich ingredient, it helps soften the skin and provides an occlusive layer that can help reduce moisture loss.
That's why you'll frequently see tallow used in products intended for dry-feeling areas such as the hands, elbows, feet and body.
It can also be formulated into facial products.
But there's an important distinction.
Tallow skincare doesn't have to mean plain tallow.
That's where the Hightower approach becomes different.
We Start With Tallow—Then Bring in the Botanicals
At Hightower Tallow Co., tallow is our foundation, not the end of the formulation.
We've developed our apothecary around botanical-infused tallow skincare.
Depending on what we're creating, we may slowly infuse our tallow with carefully selected botanicals such as:
- Hibiscus
- Rosehips
- Calendula
- Rosemary
- Gotu kola
- Haritaki
- Nettle leaf
- Horsetail
- Frankincense
- Myrrh
The botanicals used aren't identical from product to product.
We select different combinations depending upon the formulation we're creating.
Why Infuse the Tallow?
This is one of the most important differences between our products and simply taking plain tallow and adding fragrance.
We want the botanicals to be part of the formulation from the beginning.
Selected dried botanicals are slowly infused with the tallow. After the infusion is complete, the tallow is carefully strained.
Only then do we move forward with the rest of the formulation.
Depending upon the product, we may incorporate complementary oils, butters and cosmetic ingredients such as jojoba, rosehip oil, castor oil, squalane, sea buckthorn oil, vitamin E, bakuchiol, mango butter, hemp butter, coffee butter, avocado butter or shea butter.
It's a slower process.
But slow is part of our philosophy.
What Does Tallow Feel Like on the Skin?
This depends greatly upon the formula.
A rich tallow balm will naturally feel different from a whipped facial cream, just as a tallow soap bar will feel different from an in-shower body butter.
This is why formulation matters.
The amount of tallow, the complementary oils and butters, and the way the product is prepared all influence the final texture.
At Hightower, we aren't trying to make every product feel the same.
Each formula has its own purpose.
What About Tallow for Mature Skin?
People with mature or dry-feeling skin often look for skincare that feels substantial rather than disappearing immediately after application.
That's one reason rich tallow-based facial balms and creams can be appealing.
We combine tallow with selected botanical oils and ingredients to create some of our specialty facial formulations.
You'll see ingredients such as rosehip, hibiscus, gotu kola, bakuchiol, squalane and sea buckthorn appear in various Hightower facial products.
We'll explore each of those ingredients individually throughout the Hightower Botanical Journal so you can understand why we choose them.
What About Tallow Soap?
Tallow isn't limited to leave-on skincare.
It has a long history in traditional soapmaking and can contribute hardness, longevity and a creamy quality to a properly formulated soap bar.
We use tallow throughout our soap collection, including specialty facial soaps.
Our Crimson Rose Facial Bar, for example, brings our botanical-apothecary philosophy into cleansing by combining infused tallow with a carefully selected group of complementary ingredients.
We'll explore tallow soap in much greater detail in an upcoming article.
Is Every Tallow Skincare Product the Same?
Definitely not.
Two products can both say "tallow" on the label and still be completely different formulations.
Consider:
- How is the tallow prepared?
- What other ingredients are included?
- Are botanicals actually infused into the tallow or is the finished product simply scented?
- Is the product handcrafted in small batches or mass produced?
- Is the complete ingredient list available?
These are better questions than simply asking whether a product contains tallow.
Why Hightower Chose Tallow
For us, tallow represents the meeting point between traditional skincare and the botanical apothecary we're building.
It gives us a versatile foundation that we can turn into very different products.
One batch may become a botanical facial balm. Another infusion may become a shampoo bar. Another may become handcrafted soap. Another may become an in-shower body butter.
The tallow provides the foundation. The botanicals give each Hightower formula its own identity.
Simple Ingredients Don't Mean Simple Formulation
There's a growing desire for skincare with ingredient lists people can recognize.
We understand that.
But we also believe "natural" shouldn't mean careless.
Botanical ingredients still need to be chosen thoughtfully, formulas need to be made carefully, and customers deserve honest information about what a product can—and cannot—reasonably be expected to do.
That's why we focus on the cosmetic experience of our products: cleansing, moisturizing, conditioning, softening and caring for the skin.
We don't believe we need miracle promises to make beautiful skincare.
A Different Kind of Tallow Company
Hightower Tallow Co. began with tallow, but it is becoming something more specific:
A Botanical-Infused Tallow Apothecary.
We're combining a traditional skincare ingredient with carefully selected herbs, flowers, roots, botanical oils, butters and time-honored resins.
We make our products in small batches and continue learning, experimenting and refining as our apothecary grows.
And through the Hightower Botanical Journal, we'll show you exactly what we're using and why.
If you're new to tallow skincare, welcome.
You don't have to understand every botanical or every ingredient today.
Start with the foundation.
Tallow. Botanicals. Thoughtful formulation. Small batches.
That's Hightower.
Explore Hightower Botanical-Infused Tallow Skincare
Want to learn more about what makes our process different? Read “What Is Botanical-Infused Tallow Skincare? A Guide to Hightower’s Apothecary Approach” to discover how we slowly infuse selected botanicals into our tallow before creating our finished products.
Then explore our handcrafted botanical-infused tallow soaps, shampoo bars, and more at Hightower Tallow Co.
Inspired by 2 Samuel 22:3 — “God is my high tower.”
Hightower Tallow Co.
Botanical-Infused Tallow Apothecary
Slow-infused botanicals. Thoughtfully formulated tallow skincare. Handcrafted in small batches with prayer and faithful intention.
