Short answer: a tallow lip balm helps chapped lips because it is close to what your lips already make. Ours is three ingredients. Grass-fed tallow, organic jojoba oil, and local mountain beeswax.
If you are reaching for the same tube five times a day and your lips still feel tight by lunch, more balm is not the fix. What is in the tube matters more than how often you use it. That is why we made Lip Relief in Unscented, and it is the least expensive way to find out whether tallow agrees with you.
Why do lips get chapped in the first place?
Lip skin is thin, and it has almost no oil glands of its own. It cannot make the protective film the rest of your face makes. Water leaves faster there, and there is less holding it in.
Then we make it worse. Licking is the big one. It feels like relief for about eight seconds, and as the saliva evaporates it pulls more moisture with it. The American Academy of Dermatology puts lip licking near the top of the habits worth breaking. Dry indoor air, wind, and mouth breathing overnight do the rest.
So a lip balm has two jobs. Slow the water loss, and give the lip surface some of the oil it cannot produce on its own.
What is actually in a tallow lip balm?
Three things, in ours.
- Grass-fed tallow. Vitamins A, D, E and K occur in it naturally. Its fatty acid profile is close to human sebum, which is why it sinks in rather than sitting on top.
- Cold-pressed organic jojoba oil. Jojoba is not really an oil. It is a liquid wax ester, and that structure is the closest plant match to skin's own sebum. Dermatology reviews have looked at it for exactly this reason, including this succinct review in the literature.
- Local mountain beeswax. The breathable seal. It keeps the other two in place so they are still doing something an hour later.
Worth saying plainly: beeswax means Lip Relief is not vegan. If that is a dealbreaker, it is a dealbreaker, and we would rather you know here than at checkout.
“What a great and refreshing lip balm. It lasts on my lips a long time and I can't wait to use it this winter when I struggle with dry lips.”
Angi, on Lip Relief in Peppermint
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For lips that are actually chapped Lip Relief, Unscented Three ingredients. No fragrance and no tingle, so there is nothing in it to bother lips that are already unhappy. Get my Lip Relief |
How is it different from a petroleum lip balm?
Petroleum jelly is good at one job. It sits on the surface and slows water loss, and dermatologists recommend it for that. We are not going to pretend otherwise.
The difference is what else shows up. Petroleum brings the seal and nothing else. Tallow and jojoba bring the seal plus fats and fat-soluble vitamins your skin recognizes, which is the same reason researchers keep studying natural oils and the skin barrier.
You notice it as the balm wears off. A petroleum balm disappears and your lips are back where they started. Tallow leaves them feeling conditioned underneath.
How do you use tallow lip balm so it lasts?
Four things, and the second one does most of the work.
- Apply to slightly damp lips, right after you drink water or step out of the shower. You are trapping moisture, not adding it.
- Put it on before bed. Overnight is when lips lose the most and get bothered the least.
- Warm the tube in your hand for a few seconds in cold weather. Tallow firms up when it is cold and glides once it is not.
- If the corners of your mouth go dry and tight, work a fingertip of Unscented Whipped Tallow into the skin around the lip line, not just the lip itself. Two ingredients, tallow and organic coconut oil. It is the same approach we use for dry, cracked hands.
Who should skip tallow lip balm?
A few people, honestly.
- Anyone avoiding animal ingredients. Tallow and beeswax are both animal-derived. No way around that one.
- Anyone whose lips are already raw. Our Peppermint version has a light cooling tingle, but the AAD flags menthol-type ingredients as irritating on lips in rough shape. Start with Unscented. Move to Peppermint once things settle.
- Anyone seeing no change at all. The AAD's rough benchmark is two to three weeks of consistent care. If nothing shifts in that window, something other than dry weather may be involved, and a board-certified dermatologist is a better next step than another balm.
Common questions
Does tallow lip balm smell like beef?
No. Rendered tallow is close to odorless, and the Unscented version has no added fragrance at all. We gave the longer version of this answer in does tallow skincare smell like beef.
Is it okay to use while nursing or around a toddler?
The Unscented version is a short ingredient list, grass-fed tallow, organic jojoba oil and beeswax, with no added fragrance, which is the version to look at for this reason. We are not able to tell you it is safe for nursing or for use on or around an infant, and we are not going to guess. If you are nursing, take that ingredient list to your midwife, lactation consultant or doctor and let them make that call. If fragrance is the part you want to avoid, Unscented is the one to look at rather than Peppermint.
Will it cause breakouts around my mouth?
Tallow's fatty acid profile is close to sebum. Oily and acne-prone skin is the real exception, and we walk through that in does tallow clog pores.
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Where to start
If your lips are the thing bothering you right now, start with Lip Relief in Unscented. If you would rather see everything first, the lip balm collection is here.
We are Jeremie and Megan. We make all of this in Loomis, California. Our tallow comes from grass-fed, grass-finished cattle raised on 150-plus acres of regeneratively farmed land, with no herbicides, pesticides or vaccines, and we render it in small batches ourselves. Small operation, and our name is on every tube.
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This article is educational and not medical advice. Pure Lifestyle products are cosmetics made to support the look and feel of healthy, comfortable skin. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent eczema, psoriasis, or any medical condition. If you're managing a skin condition, we recommend working with your healthcare provider.