1. What is tallow?

Tallow is rendered suet, which means suet that has been effectively "cleaned" from impurities. It's a simple process that involves only a source of heat, water, salt, suet, and a bowl, and leaves you with a pure, simple product. Suet is the type of fat surrounding the internal organs of a cow, specifically the kidneys. You may also know it as leaf fat. 

2. Who can use tallow?

Almost anyone! Because tallow comes from a mammal (cow) and we are mammals, tallow is suitable for almost everyone. Tallow mimics the natural oils and sebum that the human body produces so we're able to recognize and utilize tallow to efficiently moisturize your skin. Those with sensitive skin, eczema, psoriasis, perioral dermatitis, rashes, acne and more can benefit from the use of moisturizing tallow. The only person I've heard of having a poor reaction to tallow was from someone who was allergic to eating beef. 

3. Is tallow for my face only?

Tallow is safe for all areas of the body and can be used head to toe. 

4. Where is your tallow from?

I sourced my tallow locally, as suet, from a farm just north of Kamloops, and render it down into tallow myself. The cattle are raised on grain and home grown grass (herbicide and pesticide free), and without the use of hormones and antibiotics.

5. How much do I need to apply?

My first piece of advice for anyone using tallow is: A little goes a long way, so start small! If anyone uses tallow and finds it greasy, chances are you've used too much. Start small, folks! 

6. Can I cook with tallow?

Absolutely! Tallow has a high smoke point and because it's an animal fat, our bodies are able to process it better than seed oils. I don't recommend cooking with any of the whipped tallow lotions or lip chaps because of the additional products. If you're looking for pure cooking tallow, check out "Tallow" under the Products tab above. 

7. Why should I use tallow?

Tallow contains fatty acids like omega-3's, steric acid, conjugated linoleic acid, as well as small amounts of vitamins A, D and E. These aspects of tallow allow it to be fully absorbed into your skin, moisturize deeply, retain moisture, keep pores clear, brighten skin, and regulate inflammation and acne production. 

8. Why don't you use essential oils in your products?

Essential oils are not all made equal. Sourcing truly pure and sustainable oils isn't very easy when there is such tricky marketing out there these days. Certain brands trademark terms that make the consumer believe that their products have certain levels of testing, when that is not always the case.

Essential oils are truly volatile oils. When used in high concentrations on the skin, especially if there are any breakages or disturbances in the skin biome, these volatile oils can aggravate or cause issues.

To make essential oils, a very large amount of product must be consumed in order to produce the tiny bottle of oil. One of the goals we work towards with Mabel's is to return to living in ways that we once did. Rarely in our human history would we have encountered the amount of product used to make even a few drops of an essential oil at one time. Often times, the plant product used to create the essential oil can have many different medicinal or health benefits, but when only used for it's production of the oil, these other benefits (and how the plants should truly be used) are discarded and wasted.