Healing Tallow Salve

Here's the scary thing. Whatever you put on your skin takes anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes to enter directly into your bloodstream. That means what is in your lotion bottle is in your bloodstream. The medical system knows this and has been using transdermal patches and medicated creams for quite a while now. It is a very efficient way of getting medicine into your bloodstream.

Can you trust what is in your bottle of lotion?

Most skin care products are made from unnatural substances that are known to cause health issues like cancer. The further a substance is from its natural state the more unhealthy it is. That goes for food, too.

So what is safe to put on your skin?

I've told my family many times, "If you can't eat it, don't put it on your skin."

God has given us many natural options. Tallow and Lard are some of the best ingredients for skin care products. In fact, most skin care products used to be made from animal products, sadly they disappeared about the same time the war on animal fats started. Now we have products that are very questionable as to their safety.

Tallow comes from the fat of ruminant animals such as cows, sheep, and deer.

I render my Tallow the same way I make Lard, except at a 250-275 degree oven instead of at 300 degrees. How I render lard.

Some of the wonderful properties that tallow contains are the abundant natural fat-soluble activators, vitamins A, D, and K, as well as vitamin E, which are found only in animal fats and which are all necessary for general health and for skin health.

Tallow (especially tallow from grass-fed animals and our cows are grass-fed) also contains fats like conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as palmitoleic acid, which has natural antimicrobial properties. Dr. Mary Enig cites a 2006 study on fats showing that CLA, which is found in high concentrations in tallow, has significant anti-cancer effects, and that supplying tallow increased those effects due its palmitic acid, another fatty acid.

The great thing is that you don't have to worry about having different products for different areas and ages. Tallow salve is safe to use for all ages and anywhere on the body. It is the perfect all-purpose moisturizer for the face, lips, cracked and dry skin, and even a baby's bottom to heal diaper rash. A little salve goes a long way and it may take a while to get used to it, but it works very well. A friend gave me a container of homemade Tallow moisturizer and I have been hooked on Tallow ever since.

I looked at a couple of different recipes for making the salve. Because Tallow is hard at room temperature, you need to add a liquid oil to make it softer. I chose Olive oil because of its healing properties, too.

1/2 cup rendered tallow (Pork & Plants)

2 Tblsp Olive oil

Mix ingredients and slowly melt the tallow in a double boiler (I made one by putting a small saucepan in a larger one with water).

Pour into a decorative jar.

I didn't add any essential oils, but you may if you want to cover the smell of tallow and add more healing power.

Rub on the skin.