How to Use Tallow Balm for Dry Skin

How do you use tallow balm on dry skin?

Use a pea-sized amount, warm it between your fingertips until it turns clear, and press it into slightly damp skin. Once or twice a day is enough. Straight after a shower or after washing your face is the best time, because the balm helps hold in the water that is already on your skin. Night is when it does the most, because nothing washes it off for eight hours.

Step by step

1. Start with clean, slightly damp skin. Pat dry with a towel but leave it a little damp. A balm has no water in it, so it works by sealing in moisture rather than adding it.
2. Take less than you think. Scrape a pea-sized amount from the surface with a fingernail or a small spoon. Do not dig a chunk out. That small amount covers the whole face.
3. Warm it. Rub it between your fingertips for a few seconds until it melts and turns clear and oily.
4. Press, then smooth. Press it into your skin first, then smooth it out. Pressing spreads a thin layer evenly and avoids a greasy film.
5. Give it a minute. It should sink in within a minute or two. If it is still sitting on top after five, you used too much.

A simple routine

• Morning: a small amount on the face if your skin feels tight, then sunscreen on top once it has sunk in. Tallow balm is not a sunscreen.
• Night: face, plus hands, elbows, heels and any rough patches. This is when a balm is most useful.
• Lips: a tiny amount whenever they feel dry. See using tallow balm on your lips.

Common mistakes

• Using too much. The single most common problem. It leaves skin greasy and is the main reason people find it heavy.
• Applying to bone-dry skin. It still works, but it spreads less easily and you will be tempted to use more.
• Expecting it to feel like a cream. It is firm in the jar, especially in winter. That is normal. See why it goes hard in winter.
• Giving up after two days. Give any new moisturiser a couple of weeks of regular use before you judge it.

When to get advice instead

Dry skin is usually just dry skin: weather, air-conditioning, hot showers, hand-washing. But if your skin is cracked and bleeding, very itchy, inflamed or not improving, see your GP or a dermatologist. A moisturiser is not a treatment for a skin condition.

AusTallow is a cosmetic moisturiser. It is not a therapeutic good and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or skin condition. Information on this page is general in nature. If you have a diagnosed skin condition, speak to your GP or dermatologist.