Tallow For Cosmetics - Grass Fed?

Tallow – a fabulous sustainable product and wonderful for soaps and balms.  What else do you need to know?

In the past few months, we’ve seen lots of buzz in the beauty press and socials about the virtues of Tallow and it’s use in cosmetics. But before you begin to make cosmetics using Tallow (or buy our handy ready made CPSR where the formulating is done for you!) what else to you need to know?

The main thing to consider is the microbial purity that is required for cosmetic, bath and body product recipes, and how this differs to the requirements for food. 

We see lots of really great quality organic and grass fed tallow which people are understandably keen to use in their balm and soap formulations.  In lots of cases it’s locally sourced which is great from an environmental impact stand point.  However, it’s largely sold as a food product and suppliers only tend to have the documents needed for this type of use.  For cosmetics the requirements differ, and are much more strict, as the product doesn’t pass through the acid environment in the stomach.  This last point is the key difference between using Tallow for cooking and using Tallow in your cosmetic formulations.

As an absolute minimum we need to see the MSDS and Certificate of Analysis detailing the Total Viable Count and levels of Specific Pathogens required for cosmetics. 

Buying Tallow? Here's What To Look For

We need to see a Total Viable Count (TVC) of no more than 1000 Colony Forming Units (CFU) per gram of product.  This is for products targeted as for the general population and not for use around the eye. 

In addition, Tallow products should be free of the main pathogens of concern in cosmetics. These are Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans and should be absent in 1g of product. 

Most food producers either don’t have this data for the Tallow, or else, when they do, the figures detected are in excess of the permitted levels in cosmetics.  

So before you buy food grade Tallow please do take a minute to ask for, and then check the documents that you can source for it.  It’ll save you time and money in the long run.