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Why not use lard or tallow in a lotion?
People,
I have never seen lard or tallow in a lotion or cream.Anybody have any idea why NOT?There are lotions/creams with Emu oil, but I don’t know of any with rendered pork or cattle fat in it. -
9 Replies
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Because the folks from PETA and other activist groups get really extremely upset if you do, to the point of organizing boycotts and protests.Animal-derived gelatin used to be a fairly common ingredient that vanished for the same reason, as have other ingredients.
There’s no chemical reason not to use them. -
1. What Bob said.
2. Not very nice ingredients. Lard smells of pig. I actually tried making soap out of lard, it smelled terrible. The properties they have are nowhere near as good as other fatty acids. -
as @Belassi quite correctly stated they smell bad, have stability issues and are avoided like the plague in the Cosmetic Market. Also being that there are more stable raw materials and other more effective fatty acids, the real question is “Why use Lard or Tallow in a Formula?”
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What sort of stability issues would there be with animal fats? Sorry for being ignorant. I guess rancidity it NOT one of the issues, seeing as how they are saturated fats, right?I thought that maybe the cholesterol in animal fats might be of benefit to our skin? Yes, no?I figured there’d be an “ick” factor with animal fats in products, yes indeed. I was wondering if there is a chemical reason for them not being used.
The only time my soap has been stinky from pig lard is when I did NOT cut off all the meat attached to the fat and I ended up with lard that was not quite clean. This was completely MY fault, a beginner’s error. The soap ended up being kind of stinky so I used it for laundry soap. It worked out well for that.
Other than that, all the soap I make is 50% lard, as a way to use up the fat from the pig we buy in the fall. The soap always smells of the essential oils or my lavender buds I use to scent it, nothing else.Yesterday I made 2 lotions and 2 creams which contain 4% and 10% respectively, rendered bison fat (plus plant oils). They smell of the orange/vanilla mix I used to give it a nice fragrance. -
Ancient Roman cosmetics: Skin cream from the 2nd century A.D.
“This cream had a pleasant texture when rubbed into the skin. Although it felt greasy initially, owing to the fat melting as a result of body heat, this was quickly overtaken by the smooth, powdery texture created by the starch. Remarkably, starch is still used for this purpose in modern cosmetics. The addition of SnO2 to the starch/fat base confers a white opacity, which is consistent with the cream being a cosmetic. Fashionable Roman women aspired to a fair complexion, and the Londinium cream may have served as a foundation layer.”
In a 2004 Nature paper, Evershed’s team announced that “the Londinium cream” was primarily made up of animal fat, probably from cattle or sheep. They also detected starch, which was likely isolated by boiling roots and grains in water. In addition, the cream contained a tin dioxide mineral called cassiterite with the chemical formula SnO2.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/london/3101701.stm
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jul/28/artsnews.london
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@Margreat Both, lard and tallow contain up to 50% of unsaturated fats, mostly monounsaturated. Lard can have up to 10% of linoleic acid. This is why reheated pork in most cases releases a characteristic off-flavor that in the industry is known as “warmed-over” flavor. Same thing happens with poultry.
Most of the lard comes protected against rancidity with BHA/BHT -
in addition to the above, the main technical reason against using animal fats, and the reason most cosmetic chemical manufacturers use vegetable fats these days, is the uncertain and uncontrollable composition of animal fats, and consequent lack of consistent colour, appearance, odour etc. from batch to batch
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So many reasons animal fats AREN’T used today it seems! Whooduh thunk it? Not I! I just thought it would be another way to use up fat, besides making soap. Plus, as I had mentioned, the Emu oil rage still goes on, judging from lotions & creams I found on the internet.
I heard of the Roman skin cream on the news, when it was discovered. Neat-o!I had no idea lard & tallow had so much UNsaturated fat in it, I thought it was all pretty-much saturated.Thanks so much for all the info. you have all provided. -
In general, the cosmetic industry stays away from all animal derived products. The use of Lanolin (which doesn’t harm animals) has been on the decline for years even though it is a great moisturizer.
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