Should I Make My Own Tallow Cream? Here’s the Truth.

Making your own tallow cream sounds charming, like churning butter in a rustic cabin—but let’s talk real cost. A gallon of quality grass-fed tallow runs about $45. Add a bottle of cold-pressed olive oil for $20, a tiny bottle of organic essential oil for $12, and toss in a $3 container, and you’re already staring down $80+ for a few DIY jars. That’s before factoring in your time, cleanup, trial-and-error batches, and the sudden realization that you’ve made way more than you’ll ever use before it turns funky. What started as a Pinterest dream quickly turns into a fridge full of half-finished attempts.

Then there’s the technical side. Tallow cream is temperamental. If it cools too quickly or in a humid environment, it gets grainy—less "luxury balm" and more "beefy cottage cheese." The picture below is a prime example of grainy tallow.  Another pitfall is, if even the tiniest bit of water makes it into your batch (say, from utensils or condensation), you’re on a fast track to spoilage.  So unless you’ve got a clean lab setup and climate control, the texture and longevity of your homemade batch are likely to disappoint.

Finally, there's the quality of ingredients. DIY recipes stick to basics like olive oil—which, while nourishing, can actually clog pores for many skin types. You won’t be buying rare, high-performance botanicals or ultra-pure carrier oils in bulk for one batch—it’s just not practical or cost-effective. That’s where Garden Club’s tallow creams come in. Our formulas are hand-crafted in small batches using a proprietary process that ensures silky smooth texture, longer shelf life, and skin-loving ingredients that outperform your kitchen concoction. We do the hard work so your skin gets the luxury. Leave the tallow to us—you’ve got better things to do.