Why We Never Mix Honey & Tallow in Our Balms—And Why We Love Beeswax
When you’ve spent years working with herbs, oils, and traditional remedies like we have, you develop a deep respect for ingredients — not just for what they do, but for how they perform.
My mom, Meadowlark Made’s herbalist and formulator, and I, a former holistic esthetician, didn’t start this brand because tallow became trendy. We started because we needed truly skin-compatible, wholesome products for our own family.
So today, we want to share something important: while both tallow and honey are beautiful, time-honored ingredients, they don’t belong together in leave-on, oil-based skincare — at least not without the right formulation. And that’s not just personal preference, it’s about safety.
What We've Learned About Tallow and Honey
Tallow has long been used to nourish, protect, and restore the skin. We render ours slowly from pasture-raised pork fat, filter it carefully, and infuse it with prairie herbs. Its fatty acid profile closely mirrors our skin’s natural oils, making it especially supportive for the skin barrier.
Honey, on the other hand, is a powerful humectant. It draws moisture into the skin, calms irritation, and delivers antioxidants and enzymes. But honey is water-based, and that’s where things get tricky.
While honey shines in rinse-off or hydrating products (like cleansers and masks), it's not suited for oil-based balms without serious formulation work. Mixing water-based ingredients like honey or hydrosols with oil-based ingredients — without proper preservation and emulsification — creates the perfect environment for bacteria, mold, and yeast to grow.
We’ve seen a huge surge of tallow products on the market mixing honey, hydrosols, and other water-based ingredients into tallow balms — and selling them without proper preservatives or testing. As an esthetician and as a formulator, that makes our stomachs turn. Unsafe formulation doesn’t just risk your skin, it gives all of us working with traditional ingredients (like tallow) a bad name.
Why You’ll Never See Honey in Our Tallow Balms
We’ve noticed a surge in tallow balms on the market — especially on platforms like Amazon — that combine tallow with honey, hydrosols, aloe, or other water-based ingredients. Many are sold with no mention of preservatives or testing. Some brands even claim that ingredients like vitamin E or essential oils “naturally preserve” their formulas.
Let’s be honest — this is misleading and unsafe.
Vitamin E is not a preservative. It’s an antioxidant, which can delay rancidity in oils, but it does nothing to protect against bacteria, mold, or yeast (Plant Alkemie). Essential oils like lavender may have mild antimicrobial properties in lab settings, but they are not effective at preserving complex, real-world skincare formulas—especially not at skin-safe concentrations (SwonLab).
Products like these can spoil silently. They may look and smell fine, but inside, microbes could be multiplying—posing serious risks to babies, people with eczema, or anyone using these products on broken or sensitive skin.
That’s why all of our tallow products at Meadowlark Made are 100% anhydrous — no water, no honey, no emulsifiers, and no synthetic preservatives. It’s not just about keeping things “natural.” It’s about understanding how ingredients actually work, and respecting your skin.
Our Formulation Philosophy
Between my mom’s background and mine, we’ve learned that nature’s strength lies in simplicity. We never combine water and oil ingredients in the same product unless we’re using proper preservation methods, and we’re not interested in using synthetics to get there.
If we ever include honey in a future product, it’ll be in a rinse-off mask or cleanser, where it can be used fresh and safely. Otherwise, we keep our balms, butters, and salves water-free to ensure they stay safe, stable, and effective over time.
This approach also means we can confidently say our pork tallow products are free of synthetic preservatives and emulsifiers — without compromising on quality, shelf life, or performance.
Why We Love Beeswax
You won’t find honey in our balms — but you will find locally sourced beeswax, one of our favorite ancestral ingredients for oil-based skincare. Here’s why:
A breathable, protective barrier. Beeswax helps prevent transepidermal water loss (TEWL) while still allowing skin to “breathe.” It’s especially beneficial for dry, cracked, or sensitive areas. (PubMed: Beeswax in Dermatology)
Naturally stable & supportive. Beeswax adds structure to our balms without synthetic thickeners or stabilizers. Its shelf-stability helps extend the life of our oil-based products.
Soothing & antimicrobial properties. Evidence shows beeswax helps calm inflammation and offers mild antimicrobial support — perfect for delicate, compromised, or irritated skin. (Healthline: Beeswax Uses)
Supporting our community. By sourcing wax locally, we support small beekeepers, reduce transport, and ensure our wax is fresh and traceable — free of unnecessary additives. Bees keep our prairies pollinated; their wax keeps our balms solid and stable.
We believe beeswax is a brilliant example of how traditional ingredients, when used thoughtfully, can make modern products safer and more effective.
Final Thoughts
When you’ve worked with skin as long as we have, you learn that safe, simple formulation is just as important as the ingredient list.
That’s why you’ll never find honey mixed into our tallow balms — and why we proudly use locally sourced beeswax to make those balms stable, protective, and truly natural.
It’s more than tradition. It’s about integrity. We love ancestral ingredients, but we love our customers more: enough to formulate with knowledge, respect, and care, even when it’s less trendy or more time-consuming.
Because real natural skincare doesn’t just sound good, it works safely.
