Amber Barnes spent years around fresh tallow without giving much thought to what happened to it next. A simple question sent her looking for answers and eventually led to A & J Tallow Co., where an old ingredient has found a new place in her handcrafted skincare.

By Sara Turney

Amber Barnes was already familiar with tallow before she ever thought about putting it into skincare.

What she did not know was what people actually did with it.

That question stayed with her long enough to send her researching, and what Amber discovered surprised her. Tallow, the rendered animal fat she had been around before, had uses that reached well beyond the ones she expected.

One of them was skincare.

Amber kept learning, then started experimenting with it herself. Somewhere between curiosity and creation, an idea for a business began taking shape.

Today, that idea is A & J Tallow Co., where Amber makes tallow based skincare products and spends almost as much time talking with people about the ingredient as she does selling it.

It makes sense. Tallow has become increasingly visible in the beauty and skincare conversation, but plenty of people still encounter the word for the first time while standing in front of a product made with it.

Amber remembers being one of them.

So, what exactly is tallow?

Tallow is rendered animal fat, most commonly associated with beef or mutton. Its use is far from new. It has a long history as a cooking fat and an ingredient in products such as soap, and more recently it has attracted renewed attention as an ingredient in skincare.

There is some science behind that interest, although the research is still developing.

A 2024 review of existing research on topical tallow found that it is rich in fatty acids including oleic, palmitic and stearic acids. Studies included in the review also found evidence that tallow and tallow containing formulations can have moisturizing and hydrating properties.

That gives some support to one of the most basic reasons people are interested in tallow skincare: it can function as a moisturizer.

The evidence becomes much less certain when the claims get bigger.

Researchers have emphasized that there are still significant gaps in studies involving tallow directly on human skin. More research is needed to understand its long term effects, the best formulations and whether it has meaningful benefits for specific skin conditions.

Dermatology experts have reached a similarly cautious conclusion. Tallow contains fatty acids that can provide moisturizing and hydrating properties, but there is not currently enough evidence to treat the broader claims surrounding it as established skincare science.

That distinction matters.

A & J Tallow Co. does not need a miracle claim to have an interesting product.

Amber's story began with something much simpler.

She wanted to know more.

From research to making it herself

Once Amber started learning about tallow in skincare, she decided to try working with it herself.

That personal experimentation helped turn information into interest and interest into something she could make with her own hands.

Eventually, she had a product she wanted to put in front of other people.

There is something appealing about a maker whose path begins as a curious consumer. Amber had to ask many of the same questions her customers now bring to her.

What is tallow?

Why would someone put it on their skin?

What does it feel like?

Why are people suddenly talking about it?

Those questions have become part of the experience of meeting A & J Tallow Co.

Some customers arrive already familiar with tallow skincare and know exactly why they stopped.

Others see Amber's products, hear the word “tallow” and immediately want an explanation.

Amber is happy to give them one.

An old ingredient in a new skincare conversation

Part of what makes tallow interesting is the contrast between its long history and its current moment.

This is not a newly invented substance created for the beauty industry. Rendered animal fats have been used for generations for practical purposes, including soap making. What has changed is the attention being given to tallow as a modern skincare ingredient.

Its fatty acid composition helps explain some of that appeal.

Research has identified oleic, palmitic, stearic and linoleic acids among tallow's components. These types of lipids are relevant to how moisturizers work with the skin, and research reviewed in 2024 found evidence of increased hydration and moisturizing effects in several tallow based preparations.

That does not mean every tallow product is the same.

Formulation matters. Added ingredients matter. Individual skin differs. Some dermatologists also caution that heavier products may not suit everyone, particularly people prone to clogged pores or irritation.

For consumers, the sensible approach is the same one that applies to many skincare products: understand what you are buying, pay attention to how your own skin responds and be wary of claims that promise far more than the evidence can support.

For Amber, education is already part of the business.

She would rather customers understand why they are interested in a product than buy something simply because tallow happens to be having a moment.

The advantage of meeting the maker

A & J Tallow Co. is particularly well suited to festivals and markets because this is the kind of product that invites conversation.

You can pick it up.

You can look at the texture.

You can ask what is in it and how Amber makes it.

Most importantly, you can talk directly to the person who became curious enough about tallow to build a business around it.

That interaction is one of the things independent makers bring to an event that is difficult to reproduce on a store shelf.

There is no anonymous label standing between the customer and the person who made the product.

If you have a question, Amber is right there.

Those conversations also give her a chance to hear what customers are looking for and what interests them about tallow in the first place.

For someone who entered the category through research of her own, that exchange feels particularly appropriate.

A & J Tallow Co. is a business built around a product, but curiosity remains part of the experience.

Skincare without the mythology

Natural products have a way of collecting mythology around them.

If something has been used for generations, it is easy to assume that means science has proven every modern claim made about it. If something comes from a familiar source, it can also be tempting to assume “natural” automatically means better for everyone.

Skincare is more complicated than that.

The available research gives tallow an interesting foundation. Its fatty acids are well documented, and there is evidence supporting moisturizing and hydrating properties. At the same time, researchers continue to call for better human studies before stronger therapeutic claims are made.

That middle ground is actually a good place for a maker like Amber to be.

Customers do not need to believe tallow can do everything in order to be interested in what she makes.

They can simply be curious about an ingredient, learn something about it, talk with the person making the product and decide whether it belongs in their own routine.

That is much closer to how Amber found tallow herself.

Curiosity became the business

A & J Tallow Co. continues to give Amber opportunities to make products, meet customers and share what she has learned along the way.

There is still plenty to learn.

That is true for Amber, for customers and, when it comes to some of the larger questions surrounding topical tallow, for researchers too.

Perhaps that is why the business's beginning feels so fitting.

Amber did not start with a sweeping claim about what tallow could do.

She started because she wanted to know what it was used for.

She researched it.

She tried working with it.

She learned how to make something she was proud to offer other people.

Then she put it on the table and started having conversations.

If you find A & J Tallow Co. at a Hearthara event, curiosity is still a perfectly good place to begin.

Stop by.

Look at what Amber is making.

Ask her about tallow.

After all, one good question is how the whole business started.

Meet A & J Tallow Co.: Where Curiosity, Craft and Skincare Come Together