The Best Tallow Face Cream Recipe

Tallow has been used for centuries for cooking, skincare, and even candle-making. Today, we’re learning how to render beef tallow at home and turn it into a luxurious tallow face cream recipe that’s perfect for moisturizing and hydrating your skin.

Not only is tallow natural and nourishing, but when combined with other beneficial ingredients, it becomes a powerhouse of skincare benefits.

Equipment Needed for Your Tallow Face Cream Recipe

• Slow cooker
• Cheesecloth
• heat-safe containers
• Double boiler
• Hand mixer
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Essential oils (optional)
• Storage jars or tins

If You Already have your tallow made skip to step 2!

Step 1: Rendering Beef Tallow for Your Tallow Face Cream Recipe

Before you can create your tallow face cream recipe, you’ll need to render the tallow. This process removes any impurities and makes it suitable for skincare.

Instructions to render tallow:

1. Prepare the fat: Cut the beef fat into small pieces. The smaller, the better, as this helps with the rendering process.
2. Slow cook: Place the fat into a slow cooker. Cook on low heat for 4-6 hours, Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
3. Strain: Once the fat has completely melted and turned into a clear liquid, strain it through a cheesecloth or fine mesh to remove any solids (cracklings).
4. Boil: Add water and 1-2 tablespoons of salt to your rendered tallow in a pot. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 10–15 minutes.
5. Cool & Refrigerate: Cool the mixture to room temperature, then refrigerate until the tallow solidifies.
6. Remove & Clean: Remove the solidified tallow from the water and scrape off any brown impurities from the bottom.

Step 4 – 6 is to remove impurities that will spoil your tallow fast if you don’t remove them! Don’t worry the salt stays inside the water!

7. Perform a final dry render. Do not add water during this step. Boil the tallow until all the water has evaporated. This ensures the tallow is fully rendered and shelf-stable.

8. Cut your tallow in half to check the texture after it has completely cooled in the refrigerator, preferably overnight. The center of the tallow should be solid,

Now, you have pure beef tallow—ready to use as the base for your tallow face cream recipe!

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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TRY SOME PRE-MADE CREAM FIRST

Step 2: Making a Skin Cream with Your Tallow Face Cream Recipe

Tallow is rich in vitamins A, D, E, and K and mimics the fats found in human skin. This makes it incredibly hydrating and healing for dry or damaged skin. By adding jojoba oil, which is very similar to the natural oils produced by your skin, you can create a deeply nourishing cream.

Basic Tallow Face Cream Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rendered beef tallow
• ¼ cup jojoba oil (for a smoother consistency)
• 10-20 drops of essential oils (optional for scent and benefits)

Instructions for your Tallow Face Cream recipe:

1. Melt and mix: In a double boiler or a heat-safe bowl over simmering water, gently melt the tallow. Once melted, remove from heat and add jojoba oil.

1. Blend: Use a hand mixer or a whisk to blend the tallow and oil together, creating a creamy texture.
2. Add essential oils: Once the mixture cools slightly, add your favorite essential oils for fragrance and extra skin benefits (see suggestions below).

1. Store: Pour the mixture into a jar or tin and allow it to cool and solidify. Store at room temperature or in a cool place. Your tallow face cream will have a balm-like consistency.

Step 3: Supercharge Your Tallow Face Cream Recipe with Essential Ingredients

Adding essential oils and other natural ingredients can provide additional benefits, such as reducing inflammation, boosting hydration, and soothing skin irritations. Here are a few powerful additions for your tallow face cream recipe:

1. Lavender essential oil – Promotes skin healing, reduces redness, and offers calming properties.
2. Tea tree essential oil – Great for acne-prone skin, tea tree oil has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory benefits.
3. Frankincense essential oil – Known for its anti-aging properties, frankincense helps reduce fine lines and promote skin cell regeneration.
4. Chamomile essential oil – Soothes irritated skin and is great for sensitive or inflamed areas.
5. Rosehip seed oil – High in vitamins A and C, this oil helps to brighten the skin, reduce scarring, and smooth wrinkles.
6. Vitamin E oil – A powerful antioxidant that protects the skin from free radicals and UV damage, while also promoting healing.
7. Beeswax – Can help create a barrier on the skin, locking in moisture and giving the cream a slightly firmer texture.

Benefits of Using Beef Tallow in Your Tallow Face Cream Recipe

• Deep Moisturization: The fatty acids in tallow are similar to those found in human skin, making it deeply nourishing and perfect for dry or chapped skin.
• Vitamin-Rich: Tallow contains vitamins A, D, E, and K, all essential for skin health. These vitamins promote cell regeneration, repair damaged skin, and reduce inflammation.
• Anti-Aging: Tallow’s ability to promote cell regeneration can reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles over time, giving your skin a more youthful appearance.
• Healing Properties: With its rich nutrient profile, tallow can help heal minor skin irritations, sunburn, and even eczema or psoriasis.
• Non-Clogging: Tallow is non-comedogenic, meaning it won’t clog your pores, making it ideal even for sensitive or acne-prone skin.

Final Thoughts on This Tallow Face Cream Recipe

Making your own tallow face cream recipe with jojoba oil is a natural and sustainable way to care for your skin. Whether you use it as a simple moisturizer or add essential oils for targeted benefits, you’ll find tallow to be an excellent addition to your skincare routine. Plus, with its deep hydration and nourishing properties, it’s perfect for those looking for a chemical-free, DIY alternative to store-bought creams.

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Tallow Face Cream Recipe

Print

This tallow face cream recipe combines beef tallow and jojoba oil for deep hydration and a smooth texture. Rich in vitamins, it's a natural, chemical-free moisturizer that can be enhanced with essential oils for added benefits.

Prep Time 4 hours

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 4 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

• • 1 cup rendered beef tallow
• • ¼ cup jojoba oil (for a smoother consistency)
• • 10-20 drops of essential oils (optional for scent and benefits)

Instructions

Prepare the fat: Cut the beef fat into small pieces. The smaller, the better, as this helps with the rendering process.
2. Slow cook: Place the fat into a slow cooker or a heavy-bottomed pot. Cook on low heat. If using the oven, set it at 250°F (120°C). Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
3. Strain: Once the fat has completely melted and turned into a clear liquid, strain it through a cheesecloth or fine mesh to remove any solids (cracklings).
4. Cool and store: Pour the liquid tallow into a mason jar and allow it to cool. Once solidified, it will have a creamy white texture.

Melt and mix: In a double boiler or a heat-safe bowl over simmering water, gently melt the tallow. Once melted, remove from heat and add jojoba oil.
2. Blend: Use a hand mixer or a whisk to blend the tallow and oil together, creating a creamy texture.
3. Add essential oils: Once the mixture cools slightly, add your favorite essential oils for fragrance and extra skin benefits (see suggestions below).
4. Store: Pour the mixture into a jar or tin and allow it to cool and solidify. Store at room temperature or in a cool place. Your tallow face cream will have a balm-like consistency.

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Eligh Miller-Polivka

Hello everyone, welcome to my neck of the woods! My name is Eligh, I was born in Portland, Oregon, and I love to forage! From when I was very young, my father took me out picking mushrooms, fishing, and camping. He loved to forage for mushrooms, and so naturally, I developed a keen eye for mushroom identification. After meeting my lovely wife on the Oregon coast, I started spending all of my free time out in the woods with plant, mushroom, and tree identification books. After some time I was able to identify every tree, plant, and mushroom that I came across. I learned their uses, both by native Americans and settlers alike. At this time, I also began fishing for salmon, trout, and different species of coastal rockfish. I always felt a strong sense of pride to be able to harvest a wide variety of wild edibles to suit my palate, and then harvest some natural bait and catch a fish, even how to make hooks and line using plants and trees that grow on the river bank.
I started cooking at a very young age. In middle school, my friends and their parents would ask me to cook food for them because I could make something out of nothing. I love to cook up new concoctions and see what everyone likes. When I became of working age, I started as a buss boy at a barbecue restaurant, and then moved on to work all positions of the restaurant industry. From head chef of a Jamaican restaurant in Tulsa, OK, to sous chef at a highly accredited bistro on the Oregon coast, all before I turned 21.
I Inherited land in southeast Oklahoma and now spend my days working a Fedex delivery route and working with my wife and 3 young boys on our rural homestead. We raise many different kinds of animals and some vegetable gardens. I hunt all manor of large and small game, and butcher all of my own meat. We harvest wild edibles of all kinds and enjoy to cook with them and eat them.
I am grateful that you stopped by to see how we are doing and hope to see you again very soon. We would love to be friends and hope you enjoy all of the recipes and information that I can manage to put out.
Thank you, and much love!
-Eligh

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