Gov. Jim Pillen speaks on water and agriculture during the State of the State address at Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024.
It's not every day that Nebraska has an edge when it comes to getting in on a viral beauty trend.
Thanks to social media, TikTok in particular, beef tallow -- and its bovine cousin, bison tallow -- are having a moment as a moisturizer and an ingredient in other skin care products, including lip balm and soaps.
And Nebraska, as one of the nation's top beef-producing states in terms of both numbers and sales, has a home-field advantage that a number of makers have tapped to start making and selling their own versions.
Leah Christen, a freshman at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln studying agriculture education, said she originally spotted beef tallow products on TikTok last spring. She hoped it might be a remedy for the eczema that had troubled her since birth, particularly on her face.
She rendered some fat from her family's cattle -- she's the sixth generation on her family's cow-calf operation near Steinauer (pronounced Steener by locals) in southeast Nebraska -- and made a test lotion.
"And I absolutely fell in love with it," Christen said. "For a while I just used it for myself, and it was working really well for me. I started sharing it with some family and friends over the summer, and they all remarked how they loved it, too."
With a boost from UNL's Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program, which helps students learn entrepreneurship, she started Grassland Goods, which hearkens to her family's focus on land stewardship and conservation.
She launched her products through the Engler catalog, which is distributed to business owners and others. Through the program, she was able to participate at a reduced rate in the Nebraska Created store in Norfolk. She also sells her whipped tallow cream, soaps and lip balm through her Grassland Goods Facebook page, at farmers markets and trade shows, including the upcoming Nebraska Cattlemen's Classic Feb. 15-23 in Kearney.
Tallow tracks natural product trend
Christen said she believes beef tallow has gained attention because of consumers' renewed interest in natural products. But she also sees it as a return to tradition. Pioneers used it for skin care and cooking because it was what they had on hand.
"This isn't just some new thing, but an old thing that's coming back because it has so many benefits," she said.
Indeed, interest in tallow not only as a skin product but also for cooking appear to be part of a larger movement to return to simpler products that come from familiar sources, bolstered by a desire to support local businesses.
Kenzie Lowther of Hershey, Nebraska, who has three small children, said she has been trying to simplify the products in her home. She had heard about tallow skin products and a friend encouraged her to try making her own.
She bought beef fat from Kayla Star, whose family owns and operates Birdwood Beef, a retail beef store in North Platte. Birdwood Beef's parent company is Star Cattle Company. Star's husband and his brother are the fifth generation on the farm; they raise their cattle from start to finish.
Lowther, too, fell in love with the product and started Be Witty Tallow in August. She now sells a whipped balm, lip balm, body lotion and deodorant at Birdwood Beef, through her website and at a Colorado shop owned by a cousin.
She also sources some fat from her father, who operates a feedlot in Colorado. She renders all of her own fat in small batches.
"I know exactly where it came from and I can tell them everything about the product," she said. " ... As a consumer, it's important to know and have that kind of trust in products."
Health concerns of tallow
Dermatologists, however, caution that natural is not always better.
Synthetic additives, which have been tested by the Food and Drug Administration and approved as safe for the skin, add stability and consistency, said Dr. Melissa Darling, a triple-board certified dermatologist with Midwest Dermatology in Omaha.
Products formulated in the lab of an approved manufacturer are made from ingredients that are carefully measured and stored, she said. They have a longer shelf life and won't develop bacteria that could be harmful to skin.
While tallows may someday be proven to have beneficial properties for the skin, she said, they currently are not regulated or tested as skin products and could cause irritation or allergies.
And because it is made from rendered fat, it can cause clogged pores that lead to acne or worsen it in those prone to the condition.
"Better products, which are clinically proven and safe for your skin, are available," Darling said. "Your dermatologist knows which skin care products best suit your needs."
Christen said she would like to someday conduct studies on tallow products. Little research currently is available, however.
Because it is derived from animal fat, she said, tallow contains some fat-soluble vitamins -- A, D, E and K -- and has some anti-inflammatory properties that have been good for some customers with acne. That includes her own skin, which is a combination of dry and oily. Some of the eczema medications she was prescribed she couldn't use for extended periods.
Like Lowther, she makes all of her own products, putting it through four to six renders, the process of slowly melting and straining the fat to remove impurities. The process drives out water, she said, resulting in a pure, solid tallow with a one-year shelf life.
Lowther said the process also means the products don't smell like beef. To make her balm, she whips tallow with jojoba oil and adds essential oils such as lavender and frankincense.
Christen, who also whips her balm, produces both unscented versions, which some customers prefer, as well as lemon- and lavender-scented varieties.
Star, meanwhile, also is exploring adding food-grade tallow to her product lineup. She's had four customers ask for it recently. She renders her own for cooking at home, although she also uses olive and avocado oils.
Where else can tallow be found?
With renewed interest in the product, she's also curious whether restaurants will return to frying with the product, as they did until the early 1990s. Burger chain Steak 'n Shake has announced that it will complete a shift to frying its fries in beef tallow nationwide this month.
The interest also comes as seed oils, those that come from the seeds of a plant, have been a hot topic on social media lately, blamed for a variety of ills.
Rebecca Beaudoin, a nutrition therapist in the specialty service at Nebraska Medicine, said the American Heart Association recommends seed oils for cooking.
Fats that are liquid at room temperature in general are healthier than fats that are solid at room temperature.
"If I were choosing between the two, I would choose an oil versus a fat," she said.
But people still need to be mindful of how much fat they're consuming, she said. Overconsumption has resulted in seed oils getting a bad rap.
The heart association, Beaudoin said, recommends that less than 6% of a person's calories come from saturated fat, which has been shown to increase the risk of heart disease. By weight, that measures 13 grams. A tablespoon of beef tallow contains 6 grams of saturated fat, so using it goes through the daily allotment pretty quickly.
But if a person is eating an overall healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, she said, they may be able to factor in cooking with tallow on occasion.
"It truly is your overall pattern of eating that's going to drive your health," Beaudoin said. "We don't want to villainize anything."
Photos: University of Nebraska-Lincoln agriculture student gets in on beauty trend with beef tallow