3 Reasons I Threw Out Every Lotion In My Bathroom (And Replaced Them With One Tiny Jar)

What's in my old lotion ends up in my bloodstream. What's in HolyCow's Tallow doesn't.

This is the part that broke me.

Your skin is your body's biggest organ. It absorbs almost everything you rub on it. Within minutes, the ingredients in your lotion are in your bloodstream. A study by the Environmental Working Group found that the average American woman is exposed to more than 160 unique chemicals every single day, mostly from lotions, creams, and other personal care products.

The ingredients hiding in most lotions? Parabens, phthalates, PEGs, phenoxyethanol, sodium lauryl sulfate, and "fragrance." A single word that can hide up to 40 different chemicals on a label without naming any of them. Many of these are linked to hormone disruption. Some are banned in baby products in Europe. Most are still sitting on the shelf at your local Target.

I'd been rubbing that stuff into my kids' skin every night for years.

"If I wouldn't drink it, why would I rub it into my body 365 days a year?"

HolyCow's Whipped Tallow Balm contains none of them. Zero. Instead, it's grass-fed beef tallow. One simple ingredient that's almost identical to the natural oils your skin already makes. Your body recognizes it as food, not a foreign chemical.

Nothing absorbs that shouldn't. Nothing leaches. Nothing ends up in your bloodstream that doesn't belong there.

I'm not a chemist. I'm not a doctor. But I am a mom, and I'd rather rub something on my kids that their bodies actually know what to do with. See the bundle offer →

One little jar replaced six bottles in my bathroom.

I'll be honest. I was skeptical that one product could replace six. But then I tried it.

Face cream: gone. Tallow goes on at night, my skin drinks it up, I wake up softer.

Body lotion: gone. The dry patch on my elbow that's been there for two years is finally healing.

Baby cream: gone. The flaky patches on my youngest's cheeks calmed down in a week. I checked with our pediatrician before using it on her, and she actually said tallow is one of the best things you can put on baby skin.

Hand cream: gone. My hands stopped cracking in winter for the first time since I had kids.

Eczema cream: gone. My husband's flare-ups on his shins got dramatically better.

Lip balm: I keep a 2oz jar in my purse. Tap a finger in, dab on lips. Done.

"I emptied six bottles into the trash. I'd been spending $80 a month on skincare. Now I spend $30 every 2 to 3 months."

The whipped texture spreads easily. A little goes a long way. And no, it does not smell like a burger. Properly made grass-fed tallow has almost no scent. HolyCow's scented versions add a touch of real essential oil (vanilla bean, orange vanilla, lavender vanilla). The unscented one smells like clean butter for about 30 seconds, then nothing.

I trust the family who makes it more than the giant company that doesn't answer my emails.

Pick up the lotion in your bathroom right now. Try to find the founder's name on it.

You can't. There isn't one. The "brand" is a marketing division of a big corporation. The product is made in a factory you'll never see, by people who don't use it. The 1-800 number puts you on hold for an hour.

HolyCow is the opposite.

It's a husband-and-wife team, Tristen and Collin Foote, who started whipping tallow in their kitchen in Indiana after their daughter had a bad reaction to a popular baby lotion. They wanted one clean thing that worked on everyone in the house. So they made it.

Then their friends asked for some. Then strangers on Instagram. Then it got too big for the kitchen.

Today, HolyCow's Whipped Tallow Balm is still made in small batches. Still hand-whipped. Still shipped from Indiana. The tallow comes from grass-fed family farms within a couple hours' drive. You can email Tristen with a question and she'll write you back. Try that with the big lotion brands.

Compare that to the 24 ingredients in my old bottle. I know what's in this jar. I know who made it. I know where the cows came from. That's not marketing. That's accountability.