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Discover the joy of tallow skincare in a light, pumpable lotion! This homemade tallow lotion is ultra-moisturizing without feeling heavy or greasy. It’s a great everyday lotion for the body and face.
As you probably know, tallow has become a recent trend in skincare. You can find all sorts of lotions, balms, creams, and even deodorant made out of this rendered animal fat!
I’ve tinkered with it myself and had great luck! My homemade tallow body butter and homemade tallow soap are both luxurious and leave my skin feeling incredible.
One thing I’ve noticed, however, is that tallow can feel quite heavy on the skin. Especially when it’s in an oil-based moisturizer like body butter.
This can be great for extremely dry skin on the legs or arms, but it’s not ideal for everyday use or applying to the face.
Since I couldn’t find a recipe for a water-based, pumpable tallow lotion, I decided it was up to me to make one!
Making water-based lotion, like my DIY pumpable lotion, requires a few extra steps, but it is so worth it.
This lotion has that light yet moisturizing texture, quick absorption, and even a similar scent to store-bought lotion, but it’s made with 100% natural ingredients!
Why You’ll Love It
- Perfect lotion: Like I said, this is the ideal lotion for everyday use! It absorbs quickly, is nongreasy, and is very skin-friendly. This tallow lotion will hydrate your skin beautifully without the heaviness, oiliness, or residue you might worry about with tallow skincare.
- Eco-friendly: As tallow is a natural byproduct of meat, it’s a great zero-waste ingredient for skincare or cooking. If you hunt or homestead, you can even render it yourself!
- Natural ingredients: You won’t find any concerning ingredients in this tallow lotion; everything is 100% natural and simple.
- Scent it yourself: If fragranced lotion is your thing, it can be so fun to make it yourself! Try your hand at different essential oil blends or experiment to find your all-time favorite scent.
Ingredients
- Tallow: You can find beef tallow in many grocery stores with the cooking oil and online, or render it yourself!
- Jojoba oil: Helps this lotion get the perfect consistency and provides plenty of skin-healthy benefits!
- Emulsifying wax: Works as an emulsifier to prevent the lotion from separating and give it a smooth and creamy texture.
- Cetearyl alcohol: Not to be confused with cetyl alcohol. This works as a co-emulsifier along with the emulsifying wax.
- Distilled water: It’s important to use distilled water to ensure no bacteria, minerals, or other contaminants affect the stability of the lotion.
- Geogard 221: This is a broad-spectrum preservative for skincare and cosmetics. Preservatives are absolutely necessary for a water-based lotion to have a decent shelf life. If you want to avoid preservatives, an oil-based body butter or balm, like homemade tallow balm, is a great alternative.
- Essential oils: An optional addition to give the tallow lotion a light, natural fragrance. You can use any of your favorites or stick with a simple classic, like lavender.
How to Make Tallow Lotion
Step 1. Combine beef tallow, jojoba oil, emulsifying wax, and cetearyl alcohol in a double boiler. Warm until the oils are melted, then remove from the heat.
Step 2. In a separate container, heat the water to 160°F.
Step 3. Transfer your warmed water to a tall-sided, heat-resistant container, then slowly add the melted oils. Pulse with an immersion blender for about 40-60 seconds. (It’s going to look liquidy, just make sure everything is well combined).
Step 4. Continue to pulse every couple of minutes until the temperature has cooled to 130°F. Once it has cooled to 130°F, add the Geogard 221, and continue mixing with the immersion blender for about 60 seconds, or until it is completely mixed in.
Step 5. Finally, if you are using a fragrance, add that in now, and mix with the immersion blender.
Step 6. Check pH and adjust as needed. You will need to lower the pH, as it will be around pH 9 at this point. Using a citric acid and water mixture, it only takes a little bit to lower it to 6, which is right around where I like it.
Step 7. Transfer to an airtight container and allow it to completely cool before securing the lid. It will turn into a creamy, smooth consistency as it cools.
How to Lower the pH of Homemade Lotion
Part of the process for making water-based lotion involves getting the lotion to a suitable pH for the preservative. I have only made this recipe with Geogard 221, which is effective at a pH ot 2-7.
Without adjusting, I’ve found the pH of the lotion to sit around 9, so it’s important to lower it so the preservative can work. This is an easy process, and all you need is water and citric acid.
- In one container, dissolve 20g citric acid in 20g distilled water.
- In a separate container, measure out 1g of lotion and add 9g of distilled water.
- Mix well.
- Dip the pH test strip in the lotion and water mixture.
- If it is above 7, add a squeeze of the citric acid and water mixture to your main lotion container.
- Mix well.
- Then repeat steps 2 to 3 as needed until you get your lotion in the correct range.
Expert Tips
- If you are using a squeeze bottle with a small neck to store it in, I highly suggest pouring it in while the ingredients are still melted. Otherwise, you can always scoop it into a plastic zippered bag, poke a small hole in the end, and squeeze the lotion into your container.
- Make sure everything is sterile before beginning — all equipment and containers should be washed and sanitized.
- Discard if you notice a change in the lotion’s color, texture, or smell.
Recipe FAQs
This lotion will last at least one month. It will likely last even longer, but I’ve personally tested it up to a month!
Rendered beef tallow has a very mild smell that most people don’t even notice. Once it’s mixed with the other ingredients in the lotion, you don’t smell it at all. Still, if you’re worried, you can always add essential oils to cover the scent!
I have personally only tested this recipe with Geogard 221 at a concentration of 1%, so I can’t recommend any alternatives.
Related Recipes
- Homemade Lotion Bars
- DIY Foot Lotion
- Goat Milk Lotion Recipe
- Magnesium Lotion Recipe
- Homemade Lotion Recipe
If you tried this Homemade Tallow Lotion or any other tutorial on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Homemade Tallow Lotion
Equipment
- Plastic squeeze bottle Pump bottle, squeeze bottle, or jar
Ingredients
Oil/emulsifier
- 1.5 oz rendered beef tallow
- 0.7 oz jojoba oil
- 0.5 oz emulsifying wax
- 0.4 oz cetearyl alcohol, (co-emulsifier)
Water phase
- 7 oz distilled water
Cool-down phase
- 0.1 oz Geogard 221, (1% of total weight)
- 10 drops essential oil, optional
- Citric acid
Instructions
- Combine beef tallow, jojoba oil, emulsifying wax, and cetearyl alcohol in a double boiler. Warm until the oils are melted, then remove from the heat.
- In a separate container, heat the water to 160°F.
- Transfer your warmed water to a tall-sided, heat-resistant container, then slowly add the melted oils. Pulse with an immersion blender for about 40-60 seconds. (It’s going to look liquidy, just make sure everything is well combined).
- Continue to pulse every couple of minutes until the temperature has cooled to 130°F. Once it has cooled to 130°F, add the Geogard 221, and continue mixing with the immersion blender for about 60 seconds, or until it is completely mixed in.
- Finally, if you are using a fragrance, add that in now, and mix with the immersion blender.
- Check pH and adjust as needed. You will need to lower the pH, as it will be around pH 9 at this point. Using a citric acid and water mixture, it only takes a little bit to lower it to 6, which is right around where I like it (see notes for full instructions).
- Transfer to an airtight container and allow it to completely cool before securing the lid. It will turn into a creamy, smooth consistency as it cools.
Video
Notes
- In one container, dissolve 20g citric acid in 20g distilled water.
- In a separate container, measure out 1g of lotion and add 9g of distilled water.
- Mix well.
- Dip the pH test strip in the lotion and water mixture.
- If it is above 7, add a squeeze of the citric acid and water mixture to your main lotion container.
- Mix well.
- Then repeat steps 2 to 3 as needed until you get your lotion in the correct range.
- If you are using a squeeze bottle with a small neck to store it in, I highly suggest pouring it in while the ingredients are still melted. Otherwise, you can always scoop it into a plastic zippered bag, poke a small hole in the end, and squeeze the lotion into your container.
- Make sure everything is sterile before beginning — all equipment and containers should be washed and sanitized.
- Discard if you notice a change in the lotion’s color, texture, or smell.
