Healthy animal fats are packed with fat soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids, which have many benefits when eaten or cooked with. What some people don't realize, is that rendered fat, such as grass fed beef tallow, is tremendously beneficial for the skin.
Packed with fat soluble vitamins and fatty acids, beef tallow is anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti- aging and regenerative for the skin.
Vitamin A: Stimulates collagen production, decreasing fine lines and wrinkles. Vitamin A promotes skin turnover, leading to less blemishes and faster skin healing.
Vitamin E: Helps protect the skin form free radicals as it is a potent antioxidant. Promotes wound healing and improves damaged skin, especially when related to sun damage, pollution and other toxins.
Vitamin D: Decreases inflammation and also acts as an antioxidant, protecting the skin from damage. Immune boosting affects help protect the skin from microbial overgrowth or infection.
Vitamin K: Improves skin elasticity and wound healing.
CLA (conjugated linoleic acid): Found in grass-fed tallow and meat, CLA is anti-inflammatory and works well with fat soluble vitamins to protect the skin barrier.
Also found in Tallow are oleic acid (which is anti-inflammatory and regenerative to the skin) and stearic acid (which is emollient, softens the skin and reduces flaking and redness).
Tallow mimics sebum found in human skin; the Latin translation of sebum is tallow. It works so well on the skin given it's constituents are so similar to the micro nutrients, fatty acids and minerals found in our skin.
Grass- fed beef tallow is great for all skin types, including: acne-prone skin, oily skin and breakouts, eczema, psoriasis, sensitive skin, dry skin, aging, wounds, etc. When choosing the right product for you, it's important to look at the other oils/ fats mixed in with the tallow. After trying a variety of products, here's what I've found.
Olive oil is great for more mature dry skin. My skin is combination and prone to acne, so tallow with olive oil works better on my body than face.
Jojoba oil is a plant oil that more closely mimics human sebum, like Tallow. The skin of my face and neck do best with tallow and jojoba, such as Primally Pure clarifying cream (found here).
Also in the clarifying cream above is Emu oil, which is great for inflammation and nutrient delivery into the skin.
Carrot seed oil is rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients that are great at preventing sun damage and smoothing fine lines/ wrinkles. Primally Pure makes a plumping cream with carrot seed oil (found here).
Essential oils can be great for the skin, but some may be sensitive and should patch test prior to use. Some I like include lavender, blue tansy, frankincense, rosemary and geranium.
I am always on a quest to connect with ancestral wisdom through medicine and the products I choose to put in and on my body. I have struggled with my skin on and off for years and have been told by many professionals to avoid using oil on my face.
Over the past year I have slowly started to replace my expensive multi-step skincare routine with oil cleansing and grass- fed tallow and can't recommend it enough.
Comments