By Denise Mann, MS

Beef tallow is having a moment.

As a writer who focuses mainly on skin and skin care, I’ve received countless notifications from influencers who swear that smearing beef tallow across their faces is the key to achieving that dewy glow.

I didn’t really give beef tallow much thought as these trends come and go and go and come.

Then, I got a notification from Amazon.

My 16-year-old son had purchased two jars of rendered beef fat (one with zinc that is advertised as some kind of sun balm and one without zinc).

The zinc-free fat is going to take longer than the usual one night to arrive at my doorstep, suggesting there really is a run on beef tallow.

The costs were nominal, so I was unconcerned about the price tags. (The jade dermaroller trend cost me a lot more…a lot more.) Still, I wasn’t sure that smearing beef tallow on his complexion was going to be a good call.

I’m a tiny bit scared of my son (read: terrified), so while I did question the purchase, I refrained from any sort of judgment as nothing will get a teenager to do something quicker than telling them not to.

Beef tallow is created by slowly cooking parts of a cow over low heat until the fat separates the meat from liquid and connective tissue, resulting in solidified fat. Hmm… He is also easily repulsed, so I toyed with the idea of a tutorial on how he can make his own beef tallow.

I decided against this tactic as it would involve me and likely a really bad mess in the kitchen that I would have to clean.

Dermatologists Tell It like It Is

My son can also be a bit vain, and so far, he has avoided the acne breakouts that plagued his older brother during his high school years. This could be my in. I did what any mom-skincare reporter would do: I reached out to some social media-savvy, tell-it-like-it-is dermatologists and asked them whether he was setting himself up for disappointment (or perhaps worse for a 16-year-old… pimples.)

“Beef tallow is gaining popularity as an option to help moisturize the skin,” says Marisa Garshick, MD, a dermatologist at MDCS Dermatology in New York City.

“As beef tallow is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, it can be helpful to soften the skin, strengthen the skin barrier, and serve as an anti-inflammatory.”

It also contains other essential nutrients like protein, iron, zinc, selenium, and magnesium that support skin health, she adds.

This sounds OK so far. My maternal instinct to panic is starting to dim.

She continues, “There is limited research on the benefits and safety of beef tallow for the skin. It is important to note that beef tallow is not approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration to be used in skincare, so it is not regulated.“

Uh-oh.

“Some people may find it heavy on the skin while others may consider it irritating,” she says. “Further research is needed to determine both the benefits and safety of beef tallow for the skin, so at this time, people should not be using it on their skin.“

Jeanine Downie, MD, Director of image Dermatology PC in Montclair, NJ, agrees, and pulls no punches.

“Beef tallow… topically it causes irritation, contact dermatitis, and is supposed to deeply moisturize, which it does not do,” says Dr. Downie. “This is a negative, as people get acne breakouts from this as well. I would tell your son this is a thumbs-down heck no!!!”

Now to tell him…