Eczema affects millions of people and often involves much more than just a dry patch or a mild itch. It can cause your skin to crack, bleed, and burn, and it affects your sleep, energy, and self-confidence. Moreover, it's not just a superficial condition: from increased risk of allergies and asthma to chronic inflammation, eczema reveals that there's more going on inside your body than meets the eye.
The role of your skin barrier
Your skin is like a brick wall: the cells form the foundation, and lipids like cholesterol, fatty acids, and ceramides are the cement that holds everything together. With eczema, that cement is weakened or damaged, causing moisture to evaporate more quickly, irritants and allergens to penetrate more easily, and the immune system to overreact.
The causes are diverse: aggressive soaps, perfumed detergents, stress, lack of sleep, air pollution and foods that perpetuate inflammation, such as sugar and industrially processed foods.
Recovery starts from within
No ointment—no matter how good—can compensate for a lifestyle that constantly puts your skin under strain. A strong skin barrier requires daily choices that nourish your body instead of burdening it.
Nutrition plays a major role in this. A diet rich in high-quality animal products, healthy fats, and omega-3 fatty acids from sources like fish, eggs, avocado, butter, and grass-fed meat supports the development and repair of skin lipids. This strengthens the skin barrier and allows it to retain moisture better. On the other hand, it's wise to minimize foods that promote inflammation, such as certain vegetable seed oils, excess sugar, white flour, and highly processed foods.
Lifestyle also counts
Reducing stress through breathing exercises, meditation, or a walk in nature helps reduce inflammation. Getting enough sleep gives your body the opportunity to produce repairing hormones. Choose gentle cleansing without harsh detergents or heavily scented fabric softeners. And regularly get some sunshine and fresh air: both support your vitamin D production, promote relaxation, and contribute to healthy skin.
Outside support
Lifestyle and diet lay the foundation, but sometimes your skin also needs additional external support. Many conventional creams are petroleum- or water-based. Petroleum merely coats your skin without nourishing it, while water evaporates quickly and requires preservatives that are often irritating.
Why tallow is such a logical choice
For centuries, animal fat has been used as a skincare base, and for good reason. Tallow—fat from grass-fed cattle—has a fatty acid composition very similar to that of human sebum. It precisely supplements what eczema often lacks: stearic acid, oleic acid, cholesterol, and ceramides. It also contains CLA and palmitoleic acid, which soothe redness and irritation, and fat-soluble vitamins such as A for cell renewal, D for strengthening the skin barrier, E as an antioxidant, and K to support wound healing.
How to use tallow for eczema
Choose a mild, caring soap and a rich, nourishing balm with a skin-recognisable composition, such as our Tallow Soap and Tallow & Honey Balm .
Both products are also available in an unscented version, for the most sensitive skin.
Eczema requires more than just applying lotion. It requires a skin-friendly lifestyle, nourishing foods from within, and skincare that your skin recognizes as its own. Tallow fits seamlessly into this: simple, pure, and proven for centuries.