How Lone Star Tallow deodorant is made

Short answer: we start with suet from cattle raised on pasture from birth to harvest, render it slowly at low heat, whip it with organic cold-pressed unrefined coconut oil, fold in organic arrowroot powder and magnesium hydroxide, and hand-pour it into jars in Taylor, Texas. Four ingredients, no outsourcing.

1. Sourcing the suet

Suet is the firm fat from around the kidneys, and it renders into the cleanest tallow. We require 100% grass-fed and grass-finished cattle — pasture from start to finish, never feedlot-finished for the last few months. Diet shapes fat composition, so this is the one requirement we won't flex on.

2. Slow, low-heat rendering

Rendering is just melting the fat away from the connective tissue and straining it clean. Doing it slowly at low temperature keeps the fat from scorching and keeps its character intact. Properly rendered grass-finished tallow has a soft, faintly golden color from the beta-carotene in the animal's diet — bone-white usually means high heat or heavy processing.

3. Whipping the base

Once cooled to the right point, the tallow gets whipped with organic cold-pressed unrefined coconut oil. The tallow provides structure and a melt point that survives Texas heat; the coconut oil keeps the whip soft enough to scoop with a fingertip.

4. Folding in the powders

Organic arrowroot powder goes in for surface moisture absorption and that dry, silky finish. Magnesium hydroxide goes in for odor control. Both need to be fully dispersed — under-mixing is what makes some natural deodorants feel gritty.

5. Hand-pouring and finishing

Every jar is filled by hand in small batches. Nothing is co-packed, and nothing is added at the end — no preservatives, because there's no water in the formula for anything to grow in, and no fragrance, because we're not covering anything up.

What's never in it

No aluminum, no baking soda, no beeswax, no seed oils, no synthetic fragrance, no parabens, no fillers.

Keep reading

Meet the ingredients individually on our ingredients page, read the story behind the company, or shop the tallow deodorant.