Don’t butcher your self-care routine — visit the butcher instead.
A Redditor who goes by Realex3 shared her advice for a DIY face mask she says gives her glowing skin.
Their secret? Animal fat from the butcher can be made into something called beef tallow. Tallow is beef fat that is cooked to remove impurities, The Sun explained.
They also said they use retinol on their face at night which can lead to skin dryness.
“I have dry skin. Bought 5 lbs. of tallow from my local butcher and I rendered it in my kitchen in a crock pot, following a YouTube video over the course of a week,” the Redditor wrote.
“I use Retin-A every morning and I slug with the tallow at night. My skin is glowing. No acne, it’s amazing and it only cost me $2.30 for 2 months worth,” the poster added.
In a follow-up comment, the poster said they get a bag of beef from the butcher and then use a knife to cut the meat and connective tissue off so she is only left with the white fat. They then take cleaned fat pieces and put them in a blender with water until they look like “cottage cheese.”
“Then I dump the whole ‘cheese’ mixture in my crockpot with 2 cups of salt.”
“Let it cook on low for about 24 hours, then let it cool for about 12 hours,” they explained.
“It will form a thick solid crust over the top once cool and you can take it out with your hand and flip it over. Then you use a butter knife to scrape off the tiny brown chunks of meat from the fat, again trying to leave only the white,” they added.
The poster said to repeat the process until the crockpot is clear and the tallow is “completely white.” They noted that you must change the water and salt out each time.
The person didn’t share their thoughts on why the mask worked so well but other commenters had their thoughts.
“I’ve used pure beef tallow on my face before. Got a small jar of it from an upmarket grocery. Certainly made my skin feel amazing, but I didn’t like the smell. I’ve read it has essential fatty acids and other good stuff for skin in it,” one person said.
“Packed with fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E & K that are easy for your skin to use and penetrates deeper providing faster restoration,” another commenter said.
“Tallow induces collagen and elastin production reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.Tallow is PERFECT for preventing premature aging of the skin,” the commenter added.
This isn’t the only homemade face mask touted by social media users. People have gushed over facemasks made of flaxseeds as well as masks made from yogurt, a mask made from avocado and one made from ginger.
