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Whipped Tallow Lotion: Why Ours Is Scented with Real Ingredients, Not Fragrance Oils

Tea Infusion Whipped Tallow Lotion Amber Glass Jar

Whipped tallow lotion is becoming more common in the natural skincare world — but most of what you’ll find is scented with essential oils or synthetic fragrance. Ours is different. The vanilla and tea infusion varieties are scented by infusing whole ingredients directly into the raw tallow before whipping. Here’s why that matters and how we do it.

Why whole ingredient infusion instead of fragrance oils

Fragrance oils — synthetic or natural — are concentrates designed to deliver scent. They do that well. But they don’t carry the other properties of the source ingredient. A vanilla fragrance oil smells like vanilla but doesn’t contain the beneficial compounds found in actual vanilla beans. A tea fragrance oil smells floral but has none of the antioxidants or skin-supporting properties of real pea flower or hibiscus.

When you infuse the whole ingredient into fat at low heat, you get the scent and everything that comes with it. It’s the same principle behind our frankincense face cream — we infuse whole resin rather than use essential oil because the full-spectrum extract is more beneficial than a distilled fraction of it.

How we make the vanilla infusion

Right after rendering, while the tallow is still warm and liquid, we add whole vanilla beans and bring it to 120°F — low enough to preserve the beneficial compounds without cooking them off. We hold it there for 12 to 24 hours so the fat fully absorbs the vanilla.

Just before whipping, we split the beans and scrape the vanilla caviar — the tiny black seeds inside — directly into the tallow. This adds an extra layer of vanilla intensity and is why the vanilla lotion has small black specks throughout. Those are vanilla bean seeds. It’s the same thing you see in a high-quality vanilla ice cream, and it means you’re getting the real thing.

How we make the tea infusion

The tea infusion uses a blend of four dried ingredients: pea flower, hibiscus, blueberry, and apple. We add them to the warm tallow at 120°F and let it infuse for 12 to 24 hours before straining and whipping.

Pea flower and hibiscus are both high in antioxidants. Hibiscus in particular contains anthocyanins and vitamin C, which support collagen production and skin elasticity. The resulting scent is light and gently floral — not perfumed, just fresh. The kind of scent that comes from something real rather than something synthetic.

Why the tallow base works

Beef suet tallow has a fatty acid profile close to human sebum, which means it absorbs into skin rather than sitting on the surface. The nutrients it carries — fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K — and the infused ingredients go with it. Organic castor oil in the formula supports that absorption further and helps give the whipped lotion its light, fluffy texture.

Most conventional lotions are predominantly water with emulsifiers and preservatives. They feel moisturizing temporarily but don’t nourish the skin the way a fat-based product does. Customers with sensitive skin who’ve had reactions to conventional lotions consistently tell us this formula works when others haven’t.

Three scents, two sizes

We currently offer three scents — Vanilla, Tea Infusion, and Unscented — in both a 6 oz resealable refill pouch and a 9 oz amber glass jar. The unscented version is the same tallow and castor oil formula with no infusion, which makes it ideal for sensitive skin, fragrance allergies, use on babies, or anyone who prefers a neutral moisturizer.

Whipped Tallow Lotion — Real Ingredient Infusions, Three Scents, Two Sizes

Price range: $15.00 through $20.00

Light, fluffy whipped tallow lotion — scented with real vanilla bean and whole-ingredient tea infusions, not fragrance oils.

 

Learn more about our whipped tallow lotion here.

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Tallow Lip Balm: Why Beeswax and Beef Suet Make the Best Lip Balm Base

Tallow lip balm is not something most people have tried, but once you have it’s hard to go back to conventional balm. Here’s what makes the tallow and beeswax combination different — and why we offer an unscented version for people who’ve been priced out of the lip balm aisle by peppermint sensitivity.

What most lip balms actually do

The majority of commercial lip balms — including most of the well-known brands — are built on petroleum jelly or synthetic waxes. These ingredients create a barrier on the surface of the lip that locks in moisture, which feels like hydration but isn’t quite the same thing. The moisture being locked in is mostly what’s already there. If your lips are already dry, a petroleum barrier holds the dryness in as much as it keeps anything out.

Some people also find that conventional lip balms create a dependency — you apply, lips feel better briefly, then drier than before, so you apply again. This can happen when the occlusive barrier prevents the lips from producing their own natural oils, making them increasingly reliant on the product.

Why tallow lip balm works differently

Beef suet tallow has a fatty acid profile remarkably close to the skin’s own sebum. Because of that similarity, it absorbs into the lip tissue rather than just sitting on top of it. The nutrients it carries — fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K — go with it. You’re not just coating the surface; you’re nourishing the skin underneath.

Organic beeswax provides the structure that makes it work as a balm — it gives the right consistency for easy application without being stiff or waxy. Beeswax also has its own mild antibacterial properties and creates a breathable barrier that protects without occluding. Unlike petroleum, beeswax allows some moisture exchange, which is why beeswax-based balms tend not to create the reapplication cycle that petroleum-based ones do.

The result is a lip balm that’s smooth, non-sticky, and absorbs well. It doesn’t feel like you’ve coated your lips — it feels like your lips have been taken care of.

Super Mint vs. Unscented — and why the unscented option matters

Our Super Mint variation uses a blend of high-quality mint essential oils — fresh, cooling, and clean without being sharp. It’s become a genuine everyday favorite in our family.

But mint isn’t for everyone. Peppermint sensitivity is more common than people realize — it can cause tingling, irritation, or allergic reactions on sensitive skin, and some people simply don’t like the sensation of mint on their lips. Young children often do better without it. The unscented version is the same formula with no essential oils — just tallow and beeswax, nothing else. It’s completely neutral in scent and appropriate for anyone who needs or prefers a simpler option.

What’s in it

Beef suet, organic beeswax, and — in the Super Mint version — a blend of mint essential oils. That’s it. No petroleum, no synthetic fragrance, no fillers. Made in small batches in Kentucky.

Tallow Lip Balm — Smooth, Non-Sticky & Made with Organic Beeswax

Original price was: $5.00.Current price is: $2.00.

Smooth, non-sticky tallow lip balm that actually hydrates — not just coats.

Learn more about our tallow lip balm

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Tallow Deep Hair Conditioner: How Castor Oil and Rosemary Transform Fine Hair

Deep Hair Conditioner

A tallow deep hair conditioner is a different category of product than a rinse-out conditioner. It’s not something you use every day — it’s a weekly or biweekly treatment that works on the hair shaft and scalp in ways that conventional conditioners don’t reach. Here’s what’s in ours, why each ingredient is there, and who it’s most useful for.

Why tallow works as a deep hair conditioner base

Tallow’s fatty acid profile is remarkably close to the skin’s natural sebum — which is also what the scalp produces to condition hair naturally. This similarity means tallow absorbs rather than just coats, which is what makes it useful as a conditioning base. Most conventional conditioners work by depositing silicones or other film-forming ingredients on the hair shaft, creating the appearance of smoothness without actually conditioning the hair itself. Tallow goes further.

Our deep conditioner is formulated with a higher castor oil ratio than our body lotions, which makes it thinner and better suited to working through hair. The texture allows it to penetrate the hair shaft and reach the scalp without feeling heavy or difficult to distribute.

What castor oil does for hair

Castor oil is one of the most studied natural oils for hair care, and for good reason. It’s rich in ricinoleic acid — an unusual fatty acid with strong anti-inflammatory properties that supports scalp health and circulation at the follicle. Improved scalp circulation is associated with healthier hair growth and reduced hair loss.

For fine or thin hair specifically, castor oil helps with flyaways and texture by smoothing the hair cuticle and adding weight without greasiness. It’s thick on its own but diluted through the tallow base it becomes workable. The conditioning effect on fine hair is noticeable — hair lies better, feels softer, and is easier to manage after a treatment.

What rosemary essential oil adds

Rosemary has become one of the more well-supported natural ingredients for hair in recent years — a study comparing rosemary oil to minoxidil for hair regrowth got a lot of attention and showed comparable results at six months. The mechanism appears to be improved circulation at the scalp and inhibition of DHT, a hormone associated with hair thinning.

Beyond hair growth, rosemary essential oil has antifungal and antibacterial properties that make it genuinely useful for scalp health. It addresses dandruff and dryness at the source rather than just managing flaking at the surface. It also strengthens the hair shaft itself, which reduces breakage over time.

How to use the tallow deep hair conditioner

This is a treatment product, not an everyday conditioner. We recommend using it once a week to once every two weeks depending on your hair’s needs.

For a full treatment, apply to both hair and scalp, working it through from root to tip. Leave it on for a minimum of 15 to 20 minutes — longer is fine if you want to. Then wash it out thoroughly. For a lighter application focused on ends and texture rather than scalp treatment, apply from mid-length to ends only and skip the scalp entirely.

A 9 oz refill pouch at that frequency lasts 3 to 4 months. Because it’s a concentrated treatment rather than a rinse-out conditioner, a little goes a long way.

Who it’s best for

This conditioner works well for fine or thin hair that’s prone to flyaways and lacks texture. It’s also well suited for dry or flaky scalps that haven’t responded to conventional dandruff shampoos. If you have thick or coarse hair, it still works but the castor oil effect is more pronounced on finer hair types where the weight and conditioning are most noticeable.

Tallow Deep Hair Conditioner — Castor Oil & Rosemary for Growth & Shine

$20.00

A weekly deep treatment for fine, dry, or flyaway-prone hair — made with castor oil and rosemary.

How Castor Oil and Rosemary Transform Fine Hair

6 in stock (can be backordered)

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Honey Liquid Body Wash: Why Raw Honey Belongs in Your Cleanser

Honey Liquid Body Wash

A honey liquid body wash might sound indulgent, but honey is one of the most functional skincare ingredients you can use. It’s been used medicinally on skin for thousands of years — not because it smells nice, but because it works. Here’s what it actually does and why we built a body wash around it.

What raw honey does for skin

Raw honey is naturally antibacterial and antimicrobial. This comes primarily from hydrogen peroxide it produces when diluted with water, as well as its low pH and high sugar content — all of which create an inhospitable environment for bacteria. For skin, this means honey actively clears bacteria rather than just washing it away, which is why it’s been used on wounds, burns, and acne-prone skin for centuries.

Honey is also a humectant — it draws moisture from the environment toward the skin and holds it there. Most cleansers strip moisture as they clean. Honey does the opposite: it cleans and adds moisture at the same time. For people with dry, tight skin after washing, this is a meaningful difference.

Raw honey specifically retains more of the naturally occurring enzymes, antioxidants, and beneficial compounds that are destroyed by heat processing. We use raw honey in this formula because processed honey is a significantly diminished ingredient.

Why this honey liquid body wash works as a face wash too

Most body washes are too harsh for the face — the surfactants that create lather and cut through body oils are often stripping and irritating on more sensitive facial skin. This formula is built differently. The castile soap base is gentle, the honey conditions as it cleans, and the jojoba oil and castor oil round out the moisture without clogging pores.

Jojoba oil is technically a liquid wax with a structure similar to human sebum, which makes it one of the more skin-compatible carrier oils available. It absorbs quickly and doesn’t leave a greasy residue. Paired with organic castor oil — which draws moisture deeper into the skin — the two oils work together to keep skin conditioned throughout the wash.

The vegetable glycerin reinforces the humectant effect of the honey, pulling additional moisture toward the skin. The result is a cleanser that leaves skin feeling clean and soft rather than tight and dry.

The scent

We use orange blossom essential oil, which gives the wash a light, fresh floral scent. It’s not heavy or perfumed — just a pleasant note that works well with the natural honey smell. Whether you use it first thing in the morning or as part of a nighttime routine, it’s a genuinely nice sensory experience without being overwhelming.

How to use it

Give the jar a gentle shake before use — the ingredients can settle slightly. Pump out the amount you need directly onto a loofah, silicone scrubber, or cleansing sponge. For face use, a silicone cleansing brush or soft cleansing sponge works well and gives you a little extra exfoliation.

It comes in an 8 oz glass mason jar with a pump top for easy dispensing. If you go through it regularly, the plastic refill pouch lets you reuse your jar rather than buying a new one each time.

What’s in it

Raw honey, jojoba oil, organic castor oil, castile soap, vegetable glycerin, and orange blossom essential oil. Six ingredients, all of them purposeful. No synthetic fragrance, no sulfates, no fillers.

Honey Liquid Body Wash

$20.00

A deeply moisturizing honey liquid body wash that cleans, conditions, and works just as well on your face.

Learn more about our Honey Liquid Body Wash

6 in stock (can be backordered)

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Natural Bug Repellent Tallow Lotion: What’s in Ours and How We Use It

Bug Away repellent lotion

Natural bug repellent tallow lotion was something we started making out of necessity. We have six kids, we live on a farm in Kentucky, and we spend a lot of time outside from spring through fall. The conventional repellents work, but we didn’t want to put DEET on our kids every time they walked out the door. We wanted something that was genuinely effective and that we felt good about using on everyone.

After researching which essential oils have the strongest evidence for insect repelling and testing different blends over a couple of seasons, we landed on what became our Bug Away lotion. This is what’s in it, why we chose each ingredient, and what we’ve actually experienced using it.

Why tallow as the base for a natural bug repellent lotion

Most natural bug repellents are sprays or oil blends applied directly to skin. They work to varying degrees, but they tend to wear off quickly and don’t moisturize — they just sit on the surface until they evaporate or rub off.

Tallow changes that equation. Because beef suet tallow has a fatty acid profile close to human skin, it absorbs into the skin rather than sitting on top of it. When the essential oils are dispersed through the tallow, they absorb with it, which means they’re delivered into the skin rather than just coating it. This improves how long the repellent effect lasts and reduces the amount you need.

The tallow and organic castor oil base also means you’re moisturizing while you repel — not a common combination, but a useful one when you’re applying something to your kids multiple times a day in summer.

The essential oil blend — and why each one is in there

We use seven essential oils in the Bug Away blend. Each one has documented insect-repelling properties, and together they cover a broader spectrum of insects than any single oil would:

  • Tea tree:
  • Eucalyptus:
  • Lavender:
  • Rosemary:
  • Cedarwood:
  • Geranium:
  • Lemongrass:

The blend is dispersed through the tallow at a concentration that’s effective without being harsh. It won’t burn skin, and the scent is present but not overwhelming.

What we’ve actually experienced

We’ve used this through a full Kentucky summer with six kids ranging from young children to teenagers. The honest version of our experience:

For mosquitoes, it works well. One application covers about three hours of outdoor time. We reapply if we’re outside longer than that or if it’s been a heavy-activity day with a lot of sweating. Our most mosquito-prone child — the one who historically comes in covered regardless of what we try — had noticeably fewer bites last season using this consistently.

For ticks, we’ve found it helpful but we won’t overclaim. We do tick checks after every hike in the woods regardless of what repellent we’re using — that’s just good practice. What we can say is that it’s been a meaningful part of our routine and we’ve noticed a difference on wooded hikes compared to going without.

It’s gentle enough that we use it on all our kids without concern. No burning, no skin irritation, no overwhelming chemical smell. Just a light herbal scent that fades quickly after application.

How to use it

Apply to all exposed skin before going outside — legs, arms, neck, and any other areas that will be exposed. Work it in like a lotion. Reapply after about three hours, or sooner if you’ve been sweating heavily or swimming. For young children, apply it yourself rather than letting them apply it on their own.

Natural Bug Repellent Tallow Lotion — Safe for Kids, Effective on Mosquitoes

$20.00

A natural bug repellent lotion that actually works — and is gentle enough for your most mosquito-prone kid.
Read more about Natural Bug Repellent Tallow Lotion: What’s in Ours and How We Use It

18 in stock

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Tallow Beard Balm: Why Suet and Frankincense Work Better Than Conventional Balms

Tallow Beard Balm

Tallow beard balm is not a common product — most beard balms on the market are built on plant-based waxes, carrier oils, and fragrance. Some work fine. But if you have a coarse, wiry beard that won’t cooperate, or dry irritated skin underneath that never quite clears up, the ingredients in those conventional balms may be why.

Our tallow beard balm starts from a different place — beef suet, organic castor oil, and a frankincense resin infusion. Here’s what each one does and why we think the combination works better.

What tallow beard balm does for coarse hair

Beard hair is coarser than scalp hair and tends to grow outward in multiple directions, which is what creates the bushy, wiry look that’s hard to tame. Most styling products address this by adding hold — wax, pomade, or gel that forces the hair into place. That works for styling, but it doesn’t change the hair itself.

Tallow works differently. Because its fatty acid profile is close to the skin’s natural sebum, it absorbs into the hair shaft and the follicle rather than just coating the surface. Coarse hair becomes genuinely softer — not just held down, but actually conditioned. Over time, with consistent use, wiry beard hair becomes more manageable because the hair itself has changed, not just been forced into a shape.

Why the skin under the beard matters

Most beard products are designed for the hair. The skin underneath is an afterthought — which is a problem, because beard skin is prone to dryness, flaking, irritation, and fungal buildup in ways that scalp skin isn’t. The beard traps moisture and heat, which creates an environment where bacteria and fungi can take hold if the skin isn’t kept healthy.

This is where the frankincense in our balm earns its place. The frankincense we use is a whole resin infusion — we steep raw frankincense resin in the tallow at low heat for 12 to 24 hours, which pulls the full range of compounds from the resin including boswellic acids. Frankincense is naturally antifungal and antimicrobial, which directly addresses the conditions that cause dry patches, flaking, and irritation under the beard. It’s also anti-inflammatory, which helps calm redness and sensitivity.

We use whole resin rather than frankincense essential oil because boswellic acids — the compounds most associated with frankincense’s anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties — are not present in essential oil. They don’t survive the distillation process. The only way to get them is through direct infusion of the resin.

What the castor oil adds

Organic castor oil is rich in ricinoleic acid, which is anti-inflammatory and helps promote circulation at the follicle. Some evidence suggests it supports hair growth and thickness over time. In this formula, its most immediate role is absorption — castor oil helps pull the tallow and the frankincense compounds deeper into both the hair shaft and the skin, rather than leaving them sitting on the surface.

How to use tallow beard balm

Warm a small amount — about the size of a pea — between your fingertips until it melts slightly, then work it through the beard from root to tip. Make sure it reaches the skin underneath, not just the surface of the hair. That’s where a lot of the benefit is.

Use it daily for best results. A 1 oz tin is concentrated — it will last 2 to 3 months with consistent daily use. The change in hair texture and skin condition happens gradually, so give it a few weeks before judging whether it’s working.

What’s in it

Three ingredients: beef suet, organic castor oil, and frankincense resin infusion. That’s it. No synthetic fragrance, no petroleum derivatives, no filler waxes. The suet we use is rendered from beef suet sourced locally — the same quality standard we hold across all of our products.

Tallow Beard Balm — Soften, Tame & Moisturize with Frankincense

$10.00

Softer beard, healthier skin — in a tin that lasts months.

Learn more about how it works

7 in stock (can be backordered)

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Charcoal Tallow Soap: Deep Cleansing for Skin, Body & Hair Buildup

Charcoal Soap

Charcoal tallow soap works differently than most charcoal skincare products — and the base is why activated charcoal has become a common skincare ingredient, and for good reason. But most charcoal products pair it with synthetic bases, detergents, or drying agents that undercut the very benefit they’re advertising. This bar does it differently — charcoal in a tallow and coconut oil base that cleans without stripping.

What activated charcoal does

Activated charcoal works through a process called adsorption — it attracts and binds to impurities, toxins, and excess oil on the surface of the skin, then carries them away when you rinse. Unlike a standard cleanser that simply washes the surface, charcoal pulls from within the pore. For congested or blemish-prone skin, this is meaningful.

It’s also antimicrobial, which helps address the bacterial component of acne without relying on harsh chemical treatments. Used consistently, it can help keep pores clearer and reduce the frequency of breakouts.

Why tallow is the right base

The problem with most charcoal skincare products is the base. Foaming face washes and body washes are typically built on sulfates and synthetic detergents that strip the skin’s natural oils along with the impurities. You get the deep clean, but you also get the tight, dry feeling afterward.

Tallow has a fatty acid profile close to human skin, which means it nourishes as it cleans. The charcoal draws out what shouldn’t be there; the tallow replenishes what should. Coconut oil adds lather and a deeper cleansing action. The result is a bar that’s genuinely effective without leaving your skin feeling like it’s been punished.

The shampoo bar use case

This is the use that surprises most people. I use the charcoal bar periodically as a deep-cleaning shampoo — not every wash, but when I want to reset my hair and strip out product buildup.

Most shampoos, even natural ones, leave some residue behind over time. Silicones, conditioners, and styling products layer up on the hair shaft and scalp. A charcoal wash cuts through all of it — it pulls the buildup out the same way it pulls impurities from skin. After a charcoal wash, hair feels genuinely clean in a way that regular shampoo stops delivering after a few weeks of use.

I wouldn’t use it every day — it’s too cleansing for that. But once a week or every couple of weeks as a reset, it makes a noticeable difference.

How it’s made

Every bar is handcrafted on the farm using a lye-based cold process. All of our bars are cured for a minimum of eight weeks — most cure considerably longer. Curing lets the remaining water evaporate and the bar harden and mellow. A well-cured bar is milder, longer lasting, and better in every way than a bar that was rushed.

Every batch is lye-tested before it leaves the farm. Properly made soap contains no residual lye — the saponification process converts it entirely into soap and glycerin. We test anyway, because we’d rather be certain.

Charcoal Tallow Bar Soap

$7.00

Handmade charcoal tallow bar soap that draws out impurities, clears blemishes, and deep cleans hair. Lye-tested, cured 8+ weeks. Made on the farm in Kentucky.

10 in stock

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Frankincense Resin Face Cream: Why We Don’t Use Essential Oil

Frankincense Tallow Face Cream (2 Oz Amber Glass Jar)

Our frankincense resin face cream is made differently than most — and if you’ve shopped for natural skincare, you’ve probably seen why that matters. Usually it appears as frankincense essential oil — a common addition to face creams, serums, and anti-aging products. We use frankincense too, but we do it differently. And the difference is worth explaining.

What frankincense actually is

Frankincense is the resin of the Boswellia tree, native to the Arabian Peninsula and parts of Africa and India. The resin has been used medicinally and ceremonially for thousands of years — it is one of the oldest recorded skincare and wellness ingredients in human history.

For skin, frankincense is anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial, making it useful for acne, irritation, and redness. It supports the skin’s natural renewal process, which is why it shows up so frequently in products targeting fine lines, wrinkles, and age spots. It also offers natural protection against UVB rays — the type most responsible for sun damage and premature aging.

And the scent carries its own benefit. Frankincense has been shown to interact with receptors in the brain that regulate anxiety and mood. The calming effect is real, not just pleasant.

Essential oil vs. whole resin infusion

Frankincense essential oil is produced by steam distilling the resin. The process captures the aromatic volatile compounds — what gives frankincense its smell and some of its properties. But steam distillation leaves something important behind: boswellic acids.

Boswellic acids are the compounds in frankincense most strongly associated with its anti-inflammatory and skin-renewing effects. They are large molecules that do not survive the distillation process, which means they are essentially absent from frankincense essential oil. If the anti-aging and anti-inflammatory benefits of frankincense are what you are after, essential oil alone does not deliver the full picture.

How we do it

We take whole frankincense resin and infuse it directly into the rendered tallow at very low heat for 12 to 24 hours. The slow, gentle process pulls the full range of compounds from the resin into the fat — boswellic acids included. No shortcuts, no distillation. Just resin and time.

The result smells like real frankincense — warm, earthy, and grounding in a way that a diluted essential oil rarely achieves. If you have ever smelled frankincense resin burning, you will recognize it immediately.

What the tallow adds

Beef suet tallow has a fatty acid profile remarkably close to human skin, which means it absorbs well and carries the frankincense compounds deep into the skin rather than sitting on the surface. The castor oil supports that absorption further. It is a short ingredient list, but every element is there for a reason.

How to use it

Apply a small amount at night before bed as your last step. It absorbs cleanly with no oily residue. A little goes a long way — a 2 oz jar lasts most people 2–3 months with daily use.

I use it every night. The skin benefits are real, but it is the ritual I have come to value as much as anything — a few quiet minutes at the end of the day that smell like calm.

Frankincense Tallow Face Cream — Anti-Aging, Hydrating, Resin-Infused 2 oz · Amber glass jar

Price range: $20.00 through $30.00

Tallow face cream infused with real frankincense resin — not essential oil. Anti-inflammatory, deeply hydrating, and calming. 2 oz amber glass jar, handmade in Kentucky.

Read more about Frankincense Face Cream, and how it’s helping people.

Also worth reading: What Blue Tansy Actually Does for Your Skin — our other frankincense-containing face cream.

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Why Coffee Grounds Make the Best Exfoliating Work Soap

Coffee exfoliating tallow soap

My husband has tried a lot of soaps. He works with his hands — cars, farm work, graphic design, the kind of jobs where you come inside with grease worked into your skin and generic hand soap just moves it around. When he started using our exfoliating tallow soap coffee bar, he stopped looking.

Here’s why it actually works.

What coffee grounds do in soap

Coffee grounds are a natural mechanical exfoliant — they physically scrub the surface of your skin, loosening and lifting dirt, oil, and grime in a way that lather alone can’t. They’re fine enough to be effective without being harsh, and they don’t dissolve in water the way sugar or salt scrubs do, so they’re still working throughout the wash.

There’s also some evidence that caffeine absorbs transdermally — through the skin — and may help with circulation and reducing puffiness. But the primary reason we use coffee grounds is simpler than that: they work. They cut grease. They exfoliate. They do the job.

Why tallow is the right base for a work soap

Most commercial work soaps — the ones marketed for mechanics and tradespeople — clean aggressively and leave your hands dry and tight. That’s because they’re designed to strip everything off the skin, including its natural oils.

Tallow is different. Its fatty acid profile is close to human skin, which means it cleans without stripping. You get the grime off without losing the skin underneath. Pair that with coconut oil — which adds lather and a deeper clean — and you have a bar that works hard without wrecking your hands.

Where do we source our Coffee Grounds from?

We get our coffee grounds from Jared at Simple Coffee Roasters — a small organic roastery run by a friend of ours from church here in Kentucky. He roasts his own beans fresh and sells direct at simplecoffeeroasters.org. Go wash your mouth out with Simple Coffee and wash your hands off with Coffee Tallow Bar Soap. If you want to drink the same coffee that ends up in your soap, you can order it from him directly. We

We source from Jared for the same reason we source our suet from a local farm — we’d rather know the person behind the ingredient than buy from a supplier we’ve never met. It’s a small thing, but it’s the way we think about everything that goes into these products.

A note on lye soap

All real bar soap is made with lye — sodium hydroxide. There’s no way around this chemistry. Lye reacts with fats in a process called saponification, and the result is soap. Once that process is complete, no lye remains. What you’re left with is a bar of soap and glycerin.

We cure our bars for at least 6–8 weeks before selling them. Curing lets the remaining water evaporate and the soap harden fully. A properly cured bar is milder, harder, and longer lasting than a bar that was rushed to market. Ours are never rushed.

How to get the most out of it

Work it into a lather in your hands before applying — this activates the coffee grounds evenly. Rinse thoroughly. Store it on a draining soap dish between uses so it can dry out; a bar that sits in pooled water will soften and wear down faster. Treated right, one bar lasts 2–3 weeks in regular shower use.

The scent is a light coffee fragrance — you’ll smell it when you lather up, but it doesn’t linger on your skin. If you want the same bar with a warm vanilla scent instead, the Vanilla Latte variation is the same formula with a different fragrance.

Ready to try it?

Coffee Tallow Bar Soap — Exfoliating Work Soap with Real Coffee Grounds

$7.00

This is my husband’s favorite bar in the whole lineup, and it’s easy to understand why. The Coffee Tallow Bar Soap has actual coffee grounds (From our favorite local coffee roaster) worked into it, which makes it genuinely exfoliating in a way that most soaps just aren’t. If you work with your hands — on a car, on a farm, in a kitchen — this is the bar you want by the sink.

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Jay’s Burgers: Best tallow fries in Louisville

We don’t (yet) write a lot of restaurant recommendations on this blog. But Jay’s Burgers isn’t really a restaurant recommendation — it’s a small piece of a bigger story about why sourcing matters, and what it looks like when two small operations in Kentucky take it seriously.

What Jay’s is

Jay’s Burgers is a food truck based in Louisville, Kentucky, parked at 1241 East Oak Street on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11am to 3pm. The menu is short and deliberate: a smash burger made with two patties of grass-fed and finished beef, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, sweet onion, pickles, and Jay’s sauce. And shoestring fries cooked crisp in local beef tallow.

That last detail is the one that matters to us.

Why tallow fries are different

Beef tallow was the standard cooking fat for french fries in America for most of the 20th century. McDonald’s used it until 1990. The reason tallow-fried food tastes the way it does isn’t nostalgia — it’s chemistry. Tallow is a stable saturated fat with a high smoke point, which means it doesn’t oxidize and break down the way vegetable oils do at frying temperatures. The result is a fry that’s crisp, clean, and genuinely flavorful without the off-notes that come from degraded seed oils.

Most restaurants switched to vegetable oil in the 1990s under pressure from health advocacy groups pushing the idea that saturated fat was the problem. That narrative has since been significantly revised. Tallow is making a quiet comeback among people who care about what their food is actually cooked in.

The sourcing connection

Jay is a friend of ours — we go to church together. We’ve bought suet from the same sources: Woodland Farm/KY Bison in Goshen, Kentucky, and Boone’s Butcher Shop in Bardstown. We’ve bought together on the same run.

That’s not a coincidence. It’s what it looks like when two small operations — one cooking food, one making skincare — both decide that knowing exactly where your fat comes from is worth the extra effort.

The suet we render for our tallow skincare and the tallow Jay fries in come from the same Kentucky farms. One ends up on your skin. The other ends up on your plate. Both start with an animal raised well, and fat sourced with intention.

Go find the truck

If you’re in Louisville and you haven’t been to Jay’s, go. Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, 11am to 3pm, 1241 East Oak Street. Get the burger. Get the fries. You’ll understand why we wanted to write about it.

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