People chasing healthy skin glow are trying beef tallow and salmon sperm

From Farm to Face: Animal-Based Skin Care Products Gain Popularity

Bryan Vander Dussen, a former dairy farmer turned beef producer, has recently ventured into a surprising new business with his wife: transforming organ fat from their farm animals into skin care products. Their biggest challenge? Creating formulations that don’t leave customers smelling like Sunday dinner.

“You see it everywhere, so we were like, ‘Why don’t we do this?'” Vander Dussen explained. “Some of the feedback is, ‘We don’t want to smell like beef,’ so we add things like lavender and wild orange to kind of counter that potential beef smell.”

This shift toward animal-derived skin care products represents a growing trend in the beauty industry. From beef tallow moisturizers to high-end spa treatments featuring salmon sperm DNA, these products are being marketed as natural alternatives to synthetic cosmetics. Their popularity has surged across social media platforms, luxury spas, farmers’ markets, and even home kitchens.

Industry observers connect the rise in animal-based cosmetics to broader cultural movements, including increased consumer concern about chemical exposure and messaging from health advocates promoting animal products.

“There’s been a movement in the last couple of years to embrace animal-based foods,” said Norah MacKendrick, an associate sociology professor at Rutgers University who studies consumer concerns about chemicals in personal care products. “I think some of that is probably spilling over into the cosmetic world.”

This trend marks a significant reversal for the cosmetics industry, which had largely moved away from animal-derived ingredients decades ago due to concerns about animal testing and disease outbreaks like mad cow disease, according to Perry Romanowski, an independent cosmetic chemist. For years, brands avoided such ingredients amid the rise of vegan beauty products, but they’ve recently begun to reappear in formulations marketed as natural alternatives.

For some producers, sustainability is a key selling point. Jamie Moody, founder of Sonoma Mountain Beef in Northern California, began making tallow products specifically to reduce waste. “Since the trend toward clean products remains strong, I believe the market will continue to grow,” she said.

Consumers like Natalee Keenan, 31, from western Pennsylvania, have been drawn to these products in search of natural skin care solutions. Though her first tallow purchase felt heavy and beefy on her skin, she recently found a whipped coconut-scented version that feels lighter and keeps her skin smooth.

At a Tampa, Florida spa owned by Kelly Pratt, treatments like salmon sperm DNA facials have seen surging demand. Aesthetician Cassandra Hutchison says the ingredient helps repair skin, reduce inflammation, and improve hydration by strengthening the skin’s outer layer.

These specialized products often come at a premium. A tub of tallow balm at Target costs about $15 more than petroleum jelly, while salmon sperm treatments typically require professional application at a spa, adding to the expense. Yet consumer interest remains high, with Google Trends showing searches for terms like “beef tallow for skin” have jumped significantly in recent years.

Despite growing popularity, dermatologists caution that many of these animal-derived ingredients lack robust scientific evidence supporting their effectiveness. Dr. Angelo Landriscina, a New York City dermatologist who tackles skin care misinformation on social media, notes that neither beef tallow nor salmon sperm have substantial medical data backing their claimed benefits.

Dr. Heather Rogers, a Seattle dermatologist, adds that tallow can become rancid and difficult to use, while additives to improve its scent might irritate skin. Romanowski advises consumers to maintain realistic expectations, noting that only a few skin care ingredients like retinol and niacinamide have strong scientific evidence behind them.

The appeal of these products seems rooted in both a “back to basics” philosophy and concern about chemical exposure. Corrin Dial, 32, who runs Lowcountry Family Farms in South Carolina with her husband, began making tallow balm when seeking a natural product for her baby. “A lot of people are moving away from the chemical stuff, they’re trying to get into healthy eating and using more products where they know exactly where it came from,” she explained.

MacKendrick suggests that mothers, increasingly conscious of how chemicals affect children, may be driving this shift toward animal-based cosmetics. “We find that mothers are making these decisions for the household,” she said. “Buying cosmetics for children or personal care products for children is considered high-stakes work.”

Landriscina also points out that some animal-derived ingredients, like those in Korean skin care, may gain popularity through exoticization—being marketed as innovative discoveries from other cultures. Whether pursuing something old like tallow or something new like salmon DNA, he recommends consumers base their choices on evidence rather than marketing claims.

As Romanowski puts it, the beauty industry continually seeks novelty: “You should think of the cosmetic industry more like the fashion industry… you can change the color, you can do some aesthetics thing, but it’s still a shirt and it’s the same thing with cosmetics.”