Clinician spotlight

What dermatologists say about tallow and shea butter

6 board-certified dermatologists have spoken publicly, on the record, about these two ingredients. These aren't reviews of Lark & Lull. Each quote is about tallow or shea butter in general, pulled from a real published interview, linked below.

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Dr. Anna Chacon

Board-certified dermatologist, Miami, FL

Tallow

Absorbs like skin's own oil, not just sits on top

“it easily absorbs into the skin while creating a strong barrier”

Barrier supportDeep hydration

As seen in NBC SelectRead source ›

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Dr. Alexandra Bowles

Board-certified dermatologist, MONA Dermatology, Cincinnati

Tallow

The fatty acids that lock moisture in

“fatty acids, like oleic acid, help lock moisture into your skin”

Locks in moistureVitamin A & E

As seen in NBC SelectRead source ›

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Dr. Alok Vij

Dermatologist, Cleveland Clinic

Shea Butter

A go-to for dry, reactive skin

“especially helpful for dry, reactive skin”

Dry skin reliefGentle formula

As seen in Cleveland ClinicRead source ›

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Dr. Miriam Hanson

Board-certified dermatologist, Austin, TX

Shea Butter

Part of a bigger shift toward natural skincare

“More and more patients are seeking natural and homeopathic remedies for their skin”

Natural ingredientPatient-driven trend

As seen in Sanova DermatologyRead source ›

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Dr. Hadley King

Board-certified dermatologist, NYC; clinical instructor, Weill Cornell

Shea Butter

Antioxidants that help fight everyday skin damage

“Shea butter has phenolic components that function as antioxidants”

Antioxidant protectionAnti-aging support

As seen in IpsyRead source ›

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Dr. Anna Karp

Board-certified dermatologist, Downtown Dermatology, Manhattan

Shea Butter

Keeps skin flexible as your body changes

“shea butter and cocoa butter keep the skin flexible”

Stretch mark supportPregnancy-safe

As seen in AOL LifestyleRead source ›

From other tired people

What the evening looks like now.

★★★★★

I'm 31 weeks and my belly skin was getting so tight and itchy at night that I couldn't sleep. I tried two drugstore stretch mark creams and they either stung or smelled like a chemistry lab. This tallow cream is different. It's thick but melts as soon as it touches my skin, and the orange and bergamot smell is soft, not perfumey, which matters when you're pregnant and everything makes you nauseous. I rub it on my belly, hips and boobs every night and the itching is gone. I can't promise it stops stretch marks, but my skin looks smoother and feels way more elastic. Already ordered a second jar.

Jessica R · 31 weeks pregnant

Verified purchase

★★★★★

I had my second C-section 2 months ago and my scar was raised, dark and tight. My OB cleared me for scar massage and I wanted something with no fragrance and no weird ingredients since I'm still nursing and my baby lays on my belly all day. This raw shea butter is just one ingredient. It's hard in the jar, but you scoop a little, warm it between your fingers and it turns into oil. I massage it into the scar every night after my shower. After about 6 weeks the scar is flatter, lighter and doesn't pull when I bend over anymore. I also started using it on my belly skin that's still loose. Wish I had this after my first baby.

Amanda T · Mom of 2

Verified purchase

★★★★★

I'm not a mom, I just have skin that cracks the second temperatures drop. Every winter my shins, elbows and knuckles get so dry they bleed. I bought this cream because a friend recommended it and it's the first thing that actually lasts through the day. I put it on after my morning shower and my skin is still soft at night, even after hours in heated office air. The orange and bergamot scent is warm and cozy, perfect for cold months. One jar lasts forever because you only need a tiny bit. This is now a permanent part of my winter routine.

Lauren K. · 28 yo

Verified purchase

★★★★★

After menopause my skin got so thin and dry that no amount of expensive serum helped. I read that tallow is close to the oils our skin makes and stops producing as we age, so I gave this a try. I use the lemongrass cream on my face, neck and hands at night. The first week it felt heavy, but my skin drank it up and now it just absorbs. Three months in: the crepey texture on my neck is softer, the fine lines around my eyes look less deep, and my hands don't look 70 anymore. The lemongrass is fresh and clean. I threw out three bottles of retinol creams and I'm not going back.

Deborah M · 54 yo

Verified purchase

★★★★★

My skin reacts to almost everything, even "sensitive" and "fragrance free" lotions from the pharmacy. I have eczema patches on my arms and behind my knees that flare up every fall. I wanted something with literally nothing added, and this raw shea butter is exactly that. No burning, no redness, no reaction at all. It calms the itching within minutes and the patches are less angry after two weeks of using it twice a day. The only reason it's 4 stars: it's very firm out of the jar and takes some warming up, and it can feel a bit greasy if you use too much. But for my skin, nothing else works like this.

Priya S. · 35 yo

Verified purchase

What is in the jar

5

ingredients in each tallow cream

1

ingredient in the shea

0

synthetic fragrance, parabens, preservatives

100%

grass-fed tallow, made in the USA

45

days to try it, empty-jar guarantee

Six things, one ritual

Everything the evening needs. Nothing it doesn't.

Tallow Cream, Peaceful Night (2 oz)

Her evening. Lavender and fir, absorbs in minutes.

$39

Raw Shea Butter, pure & unscented (4 oz)

The bump, skin-to-skin, the only jar for both of you.

$32

Tallow Cream, your daytime scent (2 oz)

Body cream for the day, hands, elbows, heels.

$39

Calming Lavender Soap (4 oz) Free

The bath before the lull.

$16

The 5-Minute Night Ritual (digital) Free

The routine, minute by minute, three editions.

$19

The Pregnancy Ingredient Decoder (digital) Free

Read any label in sixty seconds.

$15

Total value

$160

Your kit on refill

$94

The soap and both guides are free in every kit, not just the first one.

The simple science

Your skin already knows this ingredient.

1

Closest to your own skin

Grass-fed tallow has a fatty-acid profile remarkably close to the sebum your skin makes on its own. That is why sensitive skin tends to accept it where lotions sting, and why it absorbs instead of sitting on top.

2

Vitamins the skin can actually use

Tallow naturally carries the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, in the form they arrive in nature, not added from a lab. No fortification, no percentages, just what was already there.

3

Five ingredients, all of them pronounceable

Beef tallow, olive oil, jojoba, fir, lavender. That is the entire Peaceful Night. No water, no emulsifiers, no preservatives, because a jar without water does not need them.

Whole-fat skincare is how our grandmothers did it. We added a label you can read and a jar that opens.

Every season of her skin

One jar for the bump. One for the winter hands. One for the years after.

Same five ingredients. Different evenings.

The heater is on and your hands know it.

Lotion is mostly water, and water evaporates. Tallow has none, so it stays where you put it. A pea on hands, elbows and heels before bed, and the cracked skin around your knuckles stops stinging in the shower by the third night.

Reach for Your daytime scent, or Peaceful Night at bedtime.

A pea. Less than you think. Warm it between your palms first.

The bump, the itch, the stretch.

Skin stretching over a growing belly gets tight and itchy, and most belly butters answer with eighteen ingredients and a word that hides the fragrance. Ours has one ingredient for the bump and five for the evening, and every scent is named on the label.

Reach for Raw Shea for the bump. Peaceful Night for closing the day.

Slow circles on the belly after the shower, while the skin is still damp.

The hands that do everything now.

Twenty handwashes a day, a baby on your chest, and no time. The ritual shrinks to ninety seconds and still counts: the shea on the hands, the chest, wherever the day was hardest. Nothing in the jar needs to be washed off before you pick her up.

Reach for Raw Shea. It is the only jar that travels between you.

Ninety seconds after the last feed. The newborn edition of the guide is built for this.

Your skin is still yours.

After 35 the skin makes less of its own oil and holds less water, which is why the lotion that worked at 28 sits on top now. Tallow is the closest thing in nature to the oil your skin used to make. It does not fight the skin. It fills in.

Reach for Peaceful Night at night. Your daytime scent in the morning.

Neck, chest, backs of the hands. The places that show the years first.

Only the shea. On purpose.

Newborn skin does not need essential oils, so the scented jars say not for baby's skin on the first line. The unscented shea is the one jar that is for both of you: dry patches, the diaper bag, the winter cheeks.

Reach for Raw Shea, unscented. Nothing else in the kit goes on baby.

A rice grain, warmed, on dry patches. Ask your pediatrician if anything looks more than dry.

Read the back of the jar

We counted so you don't have to.

18

A "clean" belly butter from the pharmacy aisle

Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Butyrospermum Parkii, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Phenoxyethanol, Xanthan Gum, Tocopherol, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Citric Acid, Fragrance, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Peel Oil

18 ingredients. Starts with water. "Fragrance" undisclosed.

5

Lark & Lull, Peaceful Night

Beef Tallow, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil*, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil*, Abies Sibirica Oil*, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil*. *Organic

5 ingredients. Starts with tallow. Every scent named.

Ingredients are listed by concentration. When the first word is water, you are buying water. When the first word is tallow, you are buying tallow.

Made for mama

We print it on every jar, so you never have to guess.

Raw Shea Butter, unscented

Mama & baby

On the label: Gentle for mama and baby.

Peaceful Night

Mama

On the label: Made for mama. Not for baby's skin.

Orange & Bergamot / Lemongrass & Lavender

Mama

On the label: Made for mama. Not for baby's skin.

Calming Lavender Soap

Mama

On the label: Made for mama. Not for baby's skin.

Essential oils are lovely for her and not for a newborn's skin. So the scented jars say so, in the first line, in bold. The unscented shea is the jar that travels between you: the bump today, skin-to-skin later, the diaper bag after that. If you are pregnant or nursing and unsure about any scented product, the answer is the shea, and a quick word with your doctor.

Five minutes