We Tested Tallow Balms For 3 Months, Here Are The Top 5
If you're looking to improve your skin health with tallow skincare you're not alone. You're also not alone if you've been wondering which ones are actually worth it.
Because there are quite a lot of brands in this space. And using the wrong tallow balms on your face can do more harm then good. For example even the way tallow is rendered can have an effect on the balm's quality.
There are even many tallow balms actually made in China with god knows what processes and ingredients. And I'm not talking about those super cheap ones on Amazon.
During my test I even found a popular brand that ships from China while pretending to be a US family owned, home made brand.
In total I tested 25 different balms, and I've come up with a top 5 list for you guys.
Amara Silva - Senior Health & Skincare Editor
Hi I'm Amara. I'm a nutritionist and a holistic lifestyle coach based in California. Part of my job is reviewing health, skincare, wellness products for my clients. 3 years ago I started posting the reviews online for like minded individuals, and have managed to create a small community of us.
How We Tested
For this I needed help from some volunteers in my community. We tested the balms based on ingredient quality, smell, manufacturing process, feel and user reviews among a few other factors. We also tested them on ourselves over a 2-3 month period.
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Grass-fed/finished sourcing
Grass-fed means the cattle was fed grass for a part of their lives. Grass-finished means the cattle was fed ONLY grass throughout their entire life. Grass-finished cattle provides the most nutrient dense tallow. Grass-fed is second and non grass-fed/finished is the least nutrient dense.
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Suet-derived tallow
Suet is the fat surrounding the kidneys. It has a much higher nutrient density than non-suet fat. It contains more fat-soluble vitamins and beneficial fatty acids than regular fat. It also offers better biocompatibility, greater purity, and a cleaner scent.
Summary: Grass-finished suet tallow is best
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Non-whipped formulation
Whipping incorporates air and increases the balm’s volume without increasing the amount of tallow by weight. Greater exposure to oxygen also accelerates oxidation, which shortens freshness and alters the balm’s scent, colour, and texture.
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Supporting ingredients
Tallow by itself is fantastic for skin and better than a lot of other general solutions. But supporting ingredients can significantly improve its effectiveness.
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Essential oils and fragrance
Essential oils and fragrances can improve scent, but they can also contain recognised contact allergens. This is especially important for people with eczema, damaged skin barriers, or fragrance sensitivities.
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Scent
All tallow balms will have atleast a light beefy smell - that can't be helped. But a strong beef-like aroma may indicate inadequate rendering, low quality tallow, or may even suggest suggest oxidation.
1. Renewing & Healing Tallow Night Balm
by Origin Prima
CONSUMER REVIEWS
#1
2026
Overall Ranking
User Ratings
PROS
- Tallow is grass-finished and from suet
- Non-whipped
- Texture is easy to work with and spreads easily
- Fantastic supporting ingredients - the most complete out of all the ones we tested
- 0.5% dilution of Essential oils. This is a low enough amount where it doesn't effect the skin at all but gives a nice fragrance
- Slightly earthy and flowery scent mixed together due to other ingredients. Did not smell beefy at all
- Part of a full tallow based set that work well together to create a full routine
- Hand made in house
CONS
- Made in small batches, so often out of stock
THE BOTTOM LINE
This brand seems focused on creating a simple, complete tallow-based routine, which gives it a different approach from the others.
The Renewing & Healing Tallow Night Balm is advertised as best used before bed, though looking at the ingredients, you could easily use it during the day too. It combines tallow for restoration with bakuchiol, sea buckthorn and rosehip oil for skin-cell renewal and collagen promotion.
Their Healing & Protecting Tallow Day Balm has similar key ingredients to other tallow and honey balms. It does less for skin-cell renewal and collagen promotion, but the beeswax is fantastic for daytime protection and extra nourishment. So I can see why they recommend Origin balm for the day and the Renewing & Healing Tallow Night Balm for the evening.
They also have a Clarifying face scrub, which I tried. My skin felt really good afterwards: refreshed and clean, without the usual dried-out feeling I get from most cleansers.
Together, it's quite a complete three product routine that covers pretty much all skincare needs.
2. Pure Unscented Tallow Balm
by Summer Solace
Overall Ranking
User Ratings
PROS
- Tallow is grass-finished and from suet
- Non whipped
- No essential oils
- Earthy, minimum beefy smell
- Hand made in house
- Transparent manufacturing process
CONS
- Just tallow, olive oil and calendula extract. Does not cover all skin needs
- Very firm texture, difficult to apply
- Quite thick and sticky on the face, does not absorb well
3. Original Tallow & Honey Balm
by Ancestral Cosmetics
Overall Ranking
User Ratings
PROS
- Tallow is grass-finished and from suet
- Non-whipped
- Texture is easy to work with and spreads easily
- Supporting ingredients are effective in covering what tallow by itself can't do
- Hand made in house
- Transparent manufacturing process
CONS
- Very strong essential oils smell indicating heavy use - may not be suitable for sensitive skin
- Rose Geranium, Neroli, Palmarosa Essential oils are also known for medium - high skin sensitivity risk
- Non essential oils version available but the beefy odour was present
4. Tallow & Honey Face Balm
by VanMan
Overall Ranking
User Ratings
PROS
- Tallow is grass-fed and from suet
- Non-whipped
- Texture is easy to work with and spreads easily
- Supporting ingredients are effective in covering what tallow by itself can't do
- Hand made in house
CONS
- Very strong essential oils smell indicating heavy use - may not be suitable for sensitive skin
- Rose Geranium, Neroli, Palmarosa Essential oils are also known for medium - high skin sensitivity risk
- Non essential oils version available but the beefy odour was present
5. Tallow & Honey Balm
by Based Supplies
Overall Ranking
User Ratings
PROS
- Non-whipped
- Supporting ingredients are effective in covering what tallow by itself can't do
- Scent is not too strong and smells nice overall
- Handmade in house?
- Tallow is grass-finished and from suet? (see below)
CONS
- Advertised as grass-finished, from suet, and "small family farm business" but package came from China, bit strange.
- Texture is quite firm, hard to spread and work with
Our Pick
- Grass-finished, suet tallow for a high-quality base.
- Non-whipped formula
- Easy-to-work texture that spreads smoothly across the skin.
- The most complete supporting-ingredient blend of the balms we tested.
- 0.5% essential-oil dilution for a light scent without sensitivity trigger.
- No noticeable beefy smell, with a slightly earthy and floral aroma.
- Part of a complete three-product routine designed to cover a wider range of skin needs.
- Handmade in house in small batches.
- 60 Day Money Back Guarantee
UPDATE: They're currently a running sale!
Amara Silva - Senior Health & Skincare Editor
Hi I'm Amara. I'm a nutritionist and a holistic lifestyle coach based in California. Part of my job is reviewing health, skincare, wellness products for my clients. 3 years ago I started posting the reviews online for like minded individuals, and have managed to create a small community of us.
Advertiser Disclosure: We independently research, review, and recommend products. Rankings consider customer feedback, product quality, service, prices, offers, and popularity. We may earn a commission when a reader purchases through a link.