Have you noticed a difference in your skin from what it was 10, 20, 30 years ago?
As we have the opportunity to age and our bodies naturally mature, one of the first areas in which we tend to notice this change is our skin.
And of all the blessings that growing older can bring with it, sometimes the uncomfortable side effects also hitch a ride along the way, including itchy patches, sagging areas, and even the occasional wound that tears open with just a graze. Perhaps you’ve had plump, toned skin for the whole of your adult life, but you’ve noticed recently that you need more consistent moisture than ever before, or that you detect more fine lines and thinning skin than ever before.
Realistically, these changes in the behavior of our skin are extremely common and prevalent among most of our peers as we grow older. But these symptoms of aging may beg the questions…
“What’s going on with my skin as I get older?”
“Why is my skin aging so fast?”
“Are there any effective, natural options that will deliver powerful, noticeable results? I don’t want chemicals on my skin.”
What if we told you that there was a healthy, all-natural, simple ingredient that delivers powerful hydration and naturally-derived vitamins in their original state, while at the same time stimulating your cells to both produce more collagen and then hang onto it long-term?
There is, and it’s called tallow, or beef fat.
But before we jump into all the golden goodness that is tallow, let’s get some answers about skin and why it changes as we age.
What’s Really Going On With Aging Skin
There’s definitely a clinical reason for this change. Over time, dermatologists have been able to peer into the cellular functions of our skin and study the inner workings of what makes our body’s largest organ do its thing. Here’s what they’ve found1.
The topmost layer of our skin, the epidermis, is the layer that you can touch and feel. It is your body’s first line of defense and is continually making new skin cells, which are made up of keratin and other binding proteins. Over time, this outer layer begins to thin, making it more prone to scrapes and wounds.
Underneath the epidermis lies the fullest and most active layer of the skin, the dermis. Comprising over 90% of our skin’s thickness, the dermis hosts your skin’s hair follicles, oil and sweat glands, nerve receptors, and a network of blood vessels. Collagen and elastin produced in the dermis are critical proteins that cause skin to keep its supple structure and to spring back into place when it’s stretched.
Aging skin typically sees a loss in both collagen and elastin as the dermal layer thins out, often to the point that wrinkles and fine lines become more pronounced as skin slackens and loses elasticity2. Decreased oil production from sebaceous glands results in a dry, itchy feeling from a lack of natural moisture.
Our last stop is the hypodermis, or the subcutaneous layer of skin that anchors directly to the fat and muscle supporting our bodies. This fatty layer provides cushion and regulates body temperature. As we grow older, this fatty layer wears thin, as well, meaning a higher sensitivity to colder temperatures and less protection from the occasional bumps and bruises.
Why Is My Skin Aging So Fast?
So what causes these unwanted skin changes to come at such a seemingly-rapid pace?
They can be the result of one or many factors3, including:
- changing hormone levels
- stress
- pollution
- sun damage
- smoking
- substance abuse
- poor nutrition
- lack of sleep
- dehydration
- slowed cellular metabolism
- age
The more of these things that ring true, the more likely you are to experience unwanted signs of aging, in some cases, premature. Some causes are avoidable, but many are just a reflection of the natural course of time.
Are There Any Natural Options For My Aging Skin?
The most common reaction to addressing aging skin is to turn to pharmaceuticals or drugstore lotions to try to infuse more moisture into the layers of the skin…there’s a reason why the anti-aging skincare market is a multi-billion dollar global industry.
New products are flooding the shelves each year, promising to revive, rejuvenate, and restore skin to full strength and luster. Many of these are touted to be all-natural, or formulated with healthy ingredients.
Sadly, the farther we go down the ingredient list, the more we see that most, if not all, of these products are laced with chemicals and artificial vitamins. So much for clean skincare!
Thankfully, we are rediscovering the benefits of an ancient ingredient that is all-natural, and incredibly effective when it comes to mature skin.
Tallow for Mature Skin
Tallow is the refined fat from cows, specifically the rich fat stores that surround the kidneys and other internal organs of the animal. Brimming with long-chain fatty acids and natural fat-soluble vitamins, tallow has the ability to mimic our skin’s own oils, or sebum.
When tallow is absorbed into the skin, the nutrients don’t just sit on the top layer, or epidermis, of the skin and then just evaporate. Tallow penetrates through all layers of the skin, strengthening the cellular bonds that support firm, supple skin.
Tallow contains vitamins A, E, D, and K, which work together to stimulate blood flow and boost natural collagen production in your skin, while also helping you to hang on to more of your own collagen long-term. When these protein bonds between the layers of your skin are strengthened, skin becomes more elastic, and more resilient to sagging and wrinkling.
Because tallow is bio-identical to our skin’s natural oils, using a tallow-based product optimizes our sebum glands to perform well and increases natural oil production. No more tugging, itchy feeling that accompanies overly-dry skin.
Tallow-based products are amazing for aging skin because of their unique ability to deliver vitamins deep down through all of skin’s layers to help skin cells rebuild themselves.
Where Can I Find Tallow-Based Products For Aging Skin?
Products that utilize grass-fed leaf tallow are the gold standard when it comes to tallow-based skincare. Look for non-GMO and chemical-free products that avoid all unwanted substances in their formulas.
Our entire family of Whipped Tallow Balms are formulated without:
- Grains
- GMOs
- Chemicals
- Alcohols
- Artificial vitamins
This means no genetic modification in our tallow, no added exposure to chemicals, and no burning upon application.
We also use zero plastics in our refinement and production processes, ensuring that all of our balms are not exposed to BPAs or other disruptors.
We’d love for you to learn more about our story!
