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Tallow is big right now, for better or worse. It’s just rendered fat from bovines, but the term tallow gets used for sheep and goat fats sometimes as well.
When I first saw it popping up, it was part of that workout bro, slightly RFK Jr.–tinged “return to ancestral practices” stuff. Maybe I’m outing my algorithm, but it’s guys who lift and run barefoot. They all think it’s the best thing ever, and it’ll save your life or whatever. Generally that’s bullshit to sell you something. I don’t think tallow is a miracle ingredient.
That said, it’s been used to make soap for thousands of years, and it’s amazing if you’re nervous about additives. Now that the whole thing has gone mainstream—and because tallow, other oils, and lye are all easy to turn into soap—there are makers all over the place. At this point, I really only use tallow bar soaps. It works so well with my skin. It never leaves me dry or stripped after a hot shower, though that can be an issue with old-school soaps like this. Plus, it’s easy to pack in a carry-on when dry.
The only weird thing about bar soap is that there are no benchmarks it has to hit to be sold. If it looks and functions like soap, you can move it across state lines. Because of that, I’d stick to soaps that you get by trusted recommendation or where you actually meet the maker in real life. For my trusted recommendation, this brand called Big Crazy Buffalo is one of the best I’ve tried. The soap is bison tallow and lye. Nothing else. Plus, it sells through Amazon.
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