Beef tallow might be the current headline act in natural skincare, but when we started looking at this from first principles logic, pork lard made more sense. Not because it was trendy — it wasn’t — but because when you look at biology, pigs have more in common with humans than cattle do. I think that matters.
There’s a reason pig skin has long been used in medical settings. Pig skin has been used in burn treatment research, surgeons have used pigs in vascular and tissue work, and even tattoo artists practise on pig skin because its structure closely resembles human skin. We’re both monogastric omnivores, and the lipid profile of pork fat is closer to human skin oils than many people realise. Human skin is protected by sebum, a natural blend of lipids that keeps moisture in and irritation out. Pork lard contains a similar balance of fatty acids — including oleic, palmitic and stearic acids — which helps it absorb well and work with the skin rather than simply coating it. (This is why some people find tallow skin care “greasy”)
From a nutrition and skin-support perspective, properly rendered pork lard also contains naturally occurring fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K, along with skin-supportive lipids that help strengthen the barrier function. Healthy skin isn’t just about adding moisture — it’s about supporting that lipid layer so skin can regulate itself. We don’t want to produce a band aid product, we want to aid people to address the underlying issue.
But the quality of the animal matters. We only use lard from healthy free-range, pasture-raised pigs. Animals that live outdoors, soak up sunshine, eat a diverse diet and grow without the chronic stress and heavy medication common in confinement systems produce a cleaner, healthier fat. 95% of pigs in Australia are raised indoors. Have you ever thought about the fact that 95% of Australian pigs never experience the warm sensation of the sunshine touching their skin? What does this do to those animals?
(Beyond this - did you know that 45% of the pork that Aussie’s consume is imported? What reason does a production powerhouse like Australia have to import pork? We have the space, feed, inputs and demand all right here. Most of these imported pork products are processed cuts like bacon and ham)
You can’t separate skincare quality from farming practices. Good skin products start long before anything reaches a jar.
Back on the farm, it’s Mrs W who displays her craft in creating and producing our skincare products. Slow heat, patience, and respect for the ingredient — not industrial processing. From there we add simple supporting ingredients depending on the purpose — shea butter, essential oils, or other natural additions that complement the fat rather than compete with it. The goal isn’t complexity. The goal is effectiveness.
And there’s another practical reason we chose pork lard that fits our farmer mindset: it’s actually scalable while maintaining integrity. Pigs grow quickly and produce a generous amount of usable fat. Cattle grow slowly (in comparison) and yield relatively small amounts of suet. We are actually now tweaking our pigs diets to specifically produce more of a better fat - is this a world first?
At the end of the day, pork lard skincare isn’t about chasing trends or making bold claims. It’s about logic, biology and good farming. Using an ingredient that human skin already understands.
