From beef tallow to salmon sperm, natural skincare products are on the rise. Do they work?

Bryan Vander Dussen spent years as a dairy farmer before shifting to selling farm-raised beef. In the past year, he and his wife have been making another transition: cooking up recipes in their kitchen that turn organ fat from his animals into tallow balm that buyers are eager to slather on their skin. One of the tricky parts is coming up with formulas that don’t smell like pot roast. “You see it everywhere, so we were like, ‘Why don’t we do this?’” he says. “Some of the feedback is, ‘We don’t want to smell like beef’, so we add things like lavender and wild orange to kind of counter that potential beef smell.” From moisturisers made with beef tallow to salmon sperm facials, consumers have become more interested in animal-based skincare products in recent years. Promoted as natural alternatives to synthetics, they are gaining popularity across social media and high-end spas as well as at farmers’ markets and in home kitchens. Some experts connect the products’ rise to an increased focus on the health impact of chemicals. “There’s been a movement in the last couple of years to embrace animal-based foods,” says Norah MacKendrick, an associate professor of sociology at Rutgers University in the US state of New Jersey who has studied why consumers are worried about chemicals in their personal care products. “I think some of that is probably spilling over into the cosmetic world.” Natalee Keenan, 31, says she was looking for natural skincare products when she decided to give tallow a try. The first product she bought felt beefy and heavy on her skin, but she has recently found a whipped tallow balm scented with coconut that feels much lighter. “I use it sparingly,” she says, adding that a tiny bit has been enough to keep her skin feeling smooth. Animal-based products make a comeback The cosmetics industry moved away from many animal-derived ingredients decades ago amid concerns about animal testing and disease outbreaks like mad cow, says Perry Romanowski, an independent cosmetic chemist who studies how skincare ingredients are formulated. For years, those concerns, along with the rise of vegan beauty products, pushed many brands to avoid animal-based ingredients altogether. But recently, some of those materials have started to reappear in skincare products and are often marketed as natural alternatives. Jamie Moody, founder of Sonoma Mountain Beef in Northern California, says she started making tallow products in an effort to reduce waste. “Since the trend towards clean products remains strong, I believe the market will continue to grow,” she says. Vander Dussen says he and his wife are “just kind of jumping onto the fad that’s already there”. In today’s world, he says, it’s not just what you are putting on your face that’s important but also where it comes from. Kelly Pratt, who owns a spa in Tampa, in the US state of Florida, says demand for treatments such as salmon sperm facials has surged because clients report improvements over time. Cassandra Hutchison, an aesthetician who gives the treatments at the spa, says the ingredient is intended to repair skin and keep inflammation down. She says it helps in hydration, making skin look healthier and repairing damage to the outer layer of skin that keeps moisture in and irritants out. Prices vary, but a tub of tallow balm at American superstore chain Target costs about US$15 more than a tub of petroleum jelly. And while there are some salmon sperm products, such as masks, that you can apply at home, many have to be applied at a spa, which comes with its own costs. Still, that has not deterred some consumers, whose searches for terms like “beef tallow for skin” have jumped in recent years and remained higher than ever before, according to Google Trends. Turning waste from an animal product into something people use is certainly an example of sustainability, according to experts. How effective are these treatments? There is no robust medical data to support the effectiveness of either beef tallow or salmon sperm, says Dr Angelo Landriscina, a New York dermatologist who has taken to social media to debunk what he sees as skincare misinformation. Seattle-based dermatologist Dr Heather Rogers agrees that there is no medical evidence that tallow on your skin is helpful. She says it can be rancid and hard to use, and additives that make it smell more pleasant can irritate the skin. Romanowski says consumers should keep their expectations realistic. He says only a few skincare ingredients, including retinol, a vitamin A-derived ingredient commonly used to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, and niacinamide, a form of vitamin B3 that helps with redness and strengthens the skin, have strong evidence behind them. Others, he says, may offer only modest benefits that are difficult for consumers to notice. Corrin Dial owns Lowcountry Family Farms with her husband in the US state of South Carolina. Neither of them grew up farming, she says, but they decided to try it after he got out of the US Marine Corps. Dial says she was looking for a natural balm for her baby about two years ago and decided to try whipping tallow. She says she thinks many people are coming to it to avoid chemical products, citing one customer who had cancer and was told by her doctor to be careful of anything she puts on her skin. “A lot of people are moving away from the chemical stuff,” Dial says. “They’re trying to get into healthy eating and using more products where they know exactly where it came from.” MacKendrick, the sociologist from Rutgers, speculates that mothers, who as a demographic have become increasingly aware of how chemical substances affect children, are driving some of the move towards animal-based cosmetic products. “We find that mothers are making these decisions for the household,” MacKendrick says. “Buying cosmetics for children or personal care products for children is considered high-stakes work.” Landriscina points out that ingredients such as salmon-based skincare getting touted as “the hottest new thing” can be rooted in an idea that other cultures, especially in places such as South Korea, are somehow ahead of the curve or have more innovation in their skincare. That is a bit different from the “back to basics” mentality that can draw people to ingredients such as beef tallow. But, Landriscina says, whether people are interested in something old or something new, their skincare choices should be rooted in evidence. Romanowski says the beauty industry is under pressure to constantly introduce something new. “You should think of the cosmetic industry more like the fashion industry because you can only do so much with the shirt, right?” he says. “You can change the colour, you can do some aesthetic thing, but it’s still a shirt, and it’s the same thing with cosmetics.”

From beef tallow to salmon sperm, natural skincare products are on the rise. Do they work?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Cosmetics firms used to shy away from them, but now animal-based skincare products fly off shelves. Experts weigh in on their effectiveness

Cosmetics firms used to shy away from them, but now animal-based skincare products fly off shelves. Experts weigh in on their effectiveness