How I Make My Tallow Whip (And How You Can Tailor It to Your Skin)

Essential oils deserve a little extra respect because they’re incredibly potent and concentrated, even though they’re beautiful additions to skincare. When you’re working with them, especially for anything that goes on your face, proper dilution really matters. For facial products, the safe range is 0.5%–1% essential oil to carrier oils, and for body products you can go a bit higher at 1.5%–2%. Even though the body can technically tolerate that stronger dilution, I personally prefer to stay in the 0.5%–1% range for both face and body because it’s gentle, effective, and far less likely to irritate sensitive skin. And if you’re new to essential oils, always start low — you can add more if you need to, but once it’s mixed in, you can’t take it back out.

There are so many different essential oils to add or herbs that you can infuse into your tallow that have different benefits. Its always so much fun learning about the different plants and their multiple benefits to us, pomegranate and helichrysum are a couple of my favorites. 

What I call my base recipe is what I start out with no matter what whip I'm planning on making. For a small personal batch of what I make I have broken down into easy kitchen measurements for anyone who wants to make it. You will need a medium size pot and add some water to it. I get a medium to large size mixing bowl and I set on the pot of water. Turn your stove on a lower setting, we just want to melt our tallow in here so its all liquified. Once your tallow is melted and your carrier oils and liquid leucidal (the preservative I choose to use) are combined, chill the mixture until it begins to firm up, the top will start to turn back creamy white. Then grab your mixer and start whipping.

You’ll know it’s ready when it transforms into that iconic fat marshmallow tallow texture — thick, fluffy, and glossy, like the fat marshmallow man decided to become skincare.

When it looks like fat marshmallow whipped tallow, you’re done. Over‑whipping can make it airy and unstable, so stop once it holds soft peaks and looks like a whipped dessert.

This base recipe is just the beginning. Once you understand the texture, the ratios, and how your skin responds, you can start creating your own signature blends.

Think of it like cooking your favorite dish — you start with a recipe, then you tweak it until it becomes yours.

Whether you keep it unscented, add botanicals, or create your own essential oil blend, you’re crafting something intentional, nourishing, and deeply personal.

And that’s the beauty of tallow skincare.

This is the exact small‑batch recipe I use as the foundation for my Bare Intent tallow whip. It’s simple, customizable, and creates that dreamy fat marshmallow whipped tallow fluff texture everyone loves.