Over the last century, we’ve seen a rise in synthetic and man-made products sold to consumers: ultra-processed foods, plastic clothes, chemically derived pills, and highly unnatural beauty products.
At Marrow & Tallow (M&T), we believe in primarily using what is on or from the earth, in its purest natural form, whether that means eating one-ingredient foods, wearing natural fiber clothing, or using the fat from an animal to nourish and heal our skin, which is exactly what M&T is all about.
Marrow & Tallow was founded when Jordan, the owner, then working on a ranch, saw how much of the animal was being wasted in the butchering process. Part of this waste was the animal’s nutrient-dense tallow, which can be used for many purposes.
All this raises the question – what even is tallow?
What is Tallow?
Tallow is the solid fat derived from ruminant animals (such as cows, sheep, goats, deer, and bison) that have a multi-chambered stomach and regurgitate and re-chew their food to digest tough plant fibers.
Of course, there is fat all over the animal, but not all fat is made the same. While trim fat comes from the softer exterior and muscle scraps, Suet is the hard, nutrient-dense cavity fat around the kidneys. Suet is precisely the part that M&T uses, and I’ll tell ya why in just a bit. But first, we’ll need a quick history lesson.
History of Tallow
Tallow isn’t anything new. In fact, people have used it for many purposes since the dawn of time: cooking and eating, Old Testament sacrifices in the Bible [1], and skincare.
The ancient Egyptians–who were claimed to be the healthiest of all people [2]–used tallow to protect and heal their skin from harsh desert climates [3]; the Romans used it for beauty [4]; the Greeks used it for skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis [4]; and the Babylonians used it for wound healing [5]. Even 4,000+ years of Chinese medicine practices involve tallow for healthy skin. Makes ya think these ancient cultures might have been on to something, huh?
So, if tallow is so great, why did it fall off the grid for so long?
The rise of industrialism and the boom of the 20th-century cosmetic industry, paired with the 1980s-to-early-2000s narrative that “saturated fat is bad,” brushed tallow under the rug. However, what we didn’t know then (or what they chose not to tell us) is that most, if not all, of these chemical-based skincare products are not only bad for your skin, but for your body and health as a whole.
You see, when you put something on your skin, it doesn’t just stay on your skin. Your body has a process called transdermal absorption, which means that things move through your skin’s surface and into your bloodstream. Put simply, if you’re putting chemicals on your skin, you’re also putting them into your body. This can have negative impacts such as overstressing detoxification pathways and harming your endocrine system, which is in charge of your hormones.
Okay, so chemical products = bad, and tallow = good; but why?
Benefits of Tallow for Skincare
Properly sourced tallow isn’t just good because it lacks synthetics; it has real benefits for your skin. For one, it’s the closest thing to your natural skin oils, so your body recognizes it as natural, hydrating [6], and gentle. Tallow is biocompatible for the skin and high in vitamins such as A, D, K, E, and B12 [7]. Every time you lather up, you’re giving your skin a multivitamin.
The Greek Physician Galen found that tallow helped skin conditions, and modern research backs it up. A study of 78 individuals showed that tallow proved helpful with dermatitis and psoriasis [8]. Several of our returning customers at M&T consistently find relief from different skin conditions by using our products, especially those from our specialty line.
Taking a page from the Babylonian playbook, tallow can also help heal wounds [9]. Whether it’s cracked, dry skin or a shallow scrape or cut, tallow has been shown to support healing.
Despite all these benefits, you can’t just slap on some animal fat and expect the magic to happen. So what makes Marrow & Tallow’s product so beneficial?
Separate From the Pack
One of the biggest things that separates M&T from other tallow companies is our sourcing. We only partner with ranches that use Grass-Fed, Grass-Finished, Regenerative practices, which is a category that only .5% of animals in the United States fall under.
What does this mean?
For one, it means they’ve only been fed grass—ever. And it’s not grass that’s been sprayed or over-depleted. Pair this with the fact that these animals have never received antibiotics or hormones, and you’ve got quite the pure source.
This is of the utmost importance because what the animal eats determines the quality of the fat, and hormones are fat-soluble, meaning they reside in fat. Remember that transdermal absorption we talked about earlier? If you’re putting tallow on your skin from an animal that’s been fed junk, antibiotics, and hormones, you’ll be absorbing all of that into your body.
Pasture feeding has been shown to dramatically increase CLA in ruminant fat; one study found about 500% more CLA in milk fat from cows grazing pasture than in cows on conventional diets [10].
I mentioned earlier that M&T uses only suet, the fat around the kidneys. This matters for a few reasons [11]: 1) Distinct nutrient composition, 2) The lipids have better skin barrier compatibility, 3) Good oxidative stability, 4) Purity and consistency
At M&T, we believe our Grass-Fed, Grass-Finished, Regenerative sourcing, exclusive use of suet, and extensive rendering process are the pillars that deliver a high-quality product with superior results.
The Verdict
With tallow in general, you can be confident that the skin will be nourished more completely than with most other substances – however, not all tallow is created equal. With Marrow & Tallow, we've taken things a step further. In addition to taking what nature has already provided and proven most effective, we've paired firsthand experience with research on conventional agriculture, deemed it irresponsible for skincare, and taken the high ground by doing the work to provide a product we can stand behind wholeheartedly.
Our exhaustively traceable regenerative sourcing makes for an environmentally sustainable product that nourishes your skin without the fear of putting anything damaging on or in our bodies. Learn more about why 99.5% of U.S. based ranches don’t make the cut for Marrow & Tallow’s sourcing here!
References
[1] Leviticus 4:8-10, Leviticus 3:16
[2] The Histories, Herodotus
[3] Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming | Nature
[4] https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=28, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/recipe-roman-cosmetic-revealed, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8178570/
[5] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/390427181_Medicinal_Plants_Foods_and_Spices_in_Ancient_Mesopotamia, https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/en/e/babmed/index.html
[6] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11193910/
[7] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11193910/#REF2
[8] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11193910/#REF20
[9] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11193910/#REF19
[10] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18641180/, https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/advs_facpub/326/
[11] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11193910/, https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/18/3104