Have you heard of tallow? If you’re suffering from itchy, red or scaly eczema, then you’ll want to check out this natural ingredient that has provided relief to many eczema sufferers. This week, we discuss the benefits of tallow for eczema, as well as provide recommendations on the best tallow balm, tallow cream and tallow soap to try!
What is Tallow?
If you never heard of tallow, then you’re definitely in for a treat. Tallow is a hard fatty substance that is rendered from pure animal fat. Unlike other forms of fat, it can be stored for long periods of time without the need for refrigeration (although it should be kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation).
It’s generally rendered from cattle fat and the texture resembles a hybrid of coconut oil and butter, which means its super moisturizing and rich.
Tallow has been used for a variety of treatments, soap recipes and much more for hundreds of years now. In fact, there’s evidence that the Babylonians, Mesopotamians and Egyptians all used animal fat, along with oils and salts to create soap [1]. To this day, it is still a widely used ingredient in traditional treatments.
Because the fat rendered from animals can contain the most toxins, when choosing any animal derived products like emu or tallow for eczema, it's best to make sure the animals are grass fed or pastured vs grain fed (which will not yield as many nutrients and minerals) and are not fed anything with genetically modified ingredients or other questionable ingredients.
Why Tallow for Eczema?
There are a number of benefits in using tallow for eczema. In fact, unlike other plant based products, tallow has many fat-soluble vitamins which can help alleviate redness, inflammation, irritation, cracked and scaly skin.
If you suffer from both itchy or scaly eczema, then tallow is a wonderful product to re-hydrate the skin. Because it is so rich and fatty, it can restore the skin barrier that is damaged in eczema patients. Tallow has also shown to work wonders for weeping eczema.
Different Types of Tallow Products
Tallow can be rendered into many different forms, depending on which areas of the body need to be treated. The most common forms are either tallow balm, tallow soap or tallow cream. One of the reasons we like tallow for eczema so much is that very little needs to be added to tallow to create a great, effective product - so that means most tallow products use less ingredients which means less chance of an allergic reaction. In fact, tallow products can be some of the best for the most sensitive of skin because of their limited, but very natural ingredients.
As stated above, always make sure your tallow products are derived from grass fed or pastured cows instead of grain and GMO fed.
Tallow Balm
The purpose of tallow balm is to treat, repair and nourish skin. This Grass Fed Tallow Balm is sourced from grass fed and finished cows. This balm is great for very allergic skin because the unscented version contains only TWO ingredients: Grass Fed Tallow and Extra Virgin Olive Oil, leaving very little room for an allergic reaction, especially because a tallow allergy is extremely rare.
Not only is this tallow balm extremely nourishing and moisturizing, but it can be used on even the most sensitive skin (like weeping eczema). The balm comes either unscented or with a Tea Tree & Lavender version with added essential oils. Lavender and Tea Tree Oil are both naturally antibiotic and antiseptic, which helps promote healing and prevent scarring, so it's a great option too.
Tallow Soap
If you're looking for a bar soap, then we suggest checking out this Grass Fed Tallow Soap. Use it in the shower for washing the entire body and as safe, gentle soap for those who suffer from hand eczema. While other soaps might strip skin of moisture, this fatty bar of soap is extremely nourishing.
This tallow soap also makes a great fatty lather for clean shaving for women and men!
Have you tried tallow soap, balm or cream? We hope you've found it helpful for your eczema.
References
1. Soap History: History of Soap and Soap Interesting Facts. http://www.soaphistory.net/
