Beef Tallow vs. Beard Butter: Should You Put Beef Fat in Your Beard?

If you've been scrolling through your feed lately, you might have seen guys raving about putting beef tallow in their beards. Yeah, I mean, who needs a specially formulated moisturizer when you can just use rendered cow fat in there, right?

The neat part is there's some decent science behind why people are trying this out.

Is Beef Tallow Actually Good for Your Beard?

We'll have to give credit where it's due, and say yes, beef tallow does have some natural benefits for the skin underneath your beard.

The main reason it works comes down to the basics of human biology. Tallow's molecular makeup is really similar to human sebum, the natural oil your skin produces to keep your face and hair hydrated.

Because they mirror each other so closely, your skin recognizes tallow easily. Instead of just sitting on top of your beard like a heavy grease, it can absorb into your skin cells to lock in moisture and calm down the skin underneath without clogging your pores.

The Good Stuff in Beef Fat

If it is from pure, grass-fed beef tallow, it is also packed with fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K). These nutrients help feed the roots of your facial hair, giving you a healthier base for overall beard growth.

Do You Actually Want to Put Beef Fat On Your Face?

While the raw science sounds fine, is rubbing animal fat on your face day in and day out actually the best choice for your daily routine? Probably not for most of us. Well, not when you compare it to a product engineered specifically for your beard (like, Live Bearded's Beard Butter ).

What is the Difference Between Beef Tallow and Beard Butter?

The main difference comes down to where the fats are coming from, how they smell, and how they actually feel in your beard.

• Beef Tallow: It is straight up animal fat. It provides moisture, but it lacks the lightweight styling hold and tailored conditioning your beard actually needs, all while smelling like animal fat.

• Natural Beard Butter: Formulated with premium, plant-based fats like shea butter, coconut oil, and jojoba oil to deeply condition, soften, and shape your hair.

  • Our beard butter comes in seven incredible smelling fragrances.

When we made Live Bearded Beard Butter, we went for a premium plant-based foundation of Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, Jojoba Oil, Avocado Oil, Almond Oil, Grape-Seed Oil, Vitamin E, and natural fragrances.

Now, guess what? The natural moisturizers in those ingredients also happen to perfectly mirror the sebaceous oils your skin naturally produces.

So, you get that exact same deep-skin matching absorption just from natural, clean, plant-based sources instead of a cow.

So Why Did We Use Plant Ingredients in Our Beard Butter?

One of the main reasons we chose our specific blend of plant-based butters over animal fats comes down to a massive headache called crystallization.

Beef tallow is incredibly unstable when it undergoes temperature changes.

If your bathroom gets a little cold in the winter, beef tallow turns into a rock-hard block that you practically need a chisel to get out of the jar. But if it sits in a warm shipping truck or a hot mailbox during July, it melts down entirely. When it cools back down naturally, the fatty acids separate and form hard, gritty little grains.

Nobody really wants to rub gritty, sand-like chunks of cow fat into their beard.

The 3 Main Benefits of Using Beef Tallow (And Why An All Natural Beard Butter Does It Even Better)

If you do decide to go down the beef tallow route, you can expect these three main benefits, though they come with a catch:

1. Deep Skin Moisturization: Because it's similar to your natural oils, tallow can get into your skin and stop beard itch at the root. (Our Beard Butter does this too, without making you smell like a caveman. Or a steakhouse. Or both?).

2. Natural Hair Softening: It's got oleic and palmitic acid, which coat coarse facial hair and soften up tough whiskers over time.

3. Protecting Your Beard from the Elements: It contains stearic acid which creates a natural shield over each individual hair shaft, keeping it hydrated when you're out and about.

Now, those benefits sound pretty awesome, but you don't need to put beef fat on your face to get them. A high-quality plant-based butter does the exact same job, minus all the... exotic flair of a Sunday roast. Plus, plant butters offer a locked-in, all day softness that beef tallow just doesn't match.

How to Use Beard Buter Like a Pro

Whether you're experimenting with tallow or sticking to a traditional beard butter, the application process is exactly the same. Here's what you should do every morning to get the best out of your mane:

1. Get Clean: Wash your face and beard with something gentle. Use a dedicated Live Bearded Beard Wash , not some harsh bar soap or hair shampoo that strips all the good oils out of your skin.

2. Scoop It Out: Grab a pea-sized amount of product from the jar.

3. Melt It Down: Rub your hands together to melt the fats with your natural body heat.

4. Skin First: Massage the melted butter into the skin under your beard to keep it all hydrated and itch-free.

5. Work the Hair: Rub what's left on your hands down through your beard strands from root to tip.

6. Style and Distribute: Grab a good Beard Comb or boar bristle brush to distribute the moisture evenly and get your style looking its best.

Which Product Is Better?

Let's just be entirely honest with each other here, both products have their places in the world.

If your skin is severely damaged, you're dealing with intense eczema under your beard, or you're going for a completely raw, un-scented, ancestral lifestyle, then beef tallow is a fine restorative option. It works to moisturize skin, no two ways about it.

But when it comes to keeping your beard healthy, looking sharp, and smelling great for everyday wear? Natural Beard Butter is the undisputed winner.

A top-notch beard butter does everything tallow can do, but goes the extra mile where it matters most:

• Styling & Holding Power: A good beard butter gives you a light-to-medium hold to keep stray hairs at bay and keep your beard looking sharp all day. Tallow just lubricates your whiskers—it won't hold your style up at all.

• No Greasy Film: Plant-based butters absorb right on in, leaving you with a soft, silky beard that isn't weighed down by heavy animal fats.

• The Scent Game: Let's face it—unscented tallow smells like lard, and scented tallow often has a weird, perfume-meets-kitchen aroma. On the flip side, our legendary Live Bearded Beard Butter comes in premium, scents like The Executive (Cedar & Leather with a hint of Vanilla) or Red Jaguar (Passionfruit, Palo Santo & a touch of Rainwater) so you can look, smell, and feel like a total boss.

Our Honest Take

Beef tallow is a decent enough skin moisturizer, but if you want a beard that looks good, smells great, and doesn't leave you feeling like a walking grease board, you're always better off going with a top-shelf, plant-based butter.

Ready to bump your grooming game up a notch? Check out our lineup of all-natural Beard Butters and join the crew today.

Live Bold. Live Brave. Live Bearded.