Butterface Q&A
🧈 About Tallow
Does tallow lip balm smell or taste like beef?
Nope. Properly rendered tallow has a very mild, neutral scent. Butterface uses high-quality regenerative grass-fed beef tallow, and the finished balm doesn't smell or taste like meat. It just feels like a rich, buttery lip balm. You'll get over the beef-fat thing surprisingly fast.
Does tallow lip balm feel greasy?
Not when it's formulated well. Tallow is a rich fat, but Butterface balances it with beeswax, jojoba, and lanolin to create a smooth, buttery balm that glides on and stays put without feeling like you rubbed cooking fat on your face. Because that would be...less appealing.
Why would I put beef fat on my lips?
Fair question. Tallow is rendered beef fat, but it's also an old-school skincare ingredient rich in fatty acids like oleic, palmitic, and stearic acid that give it excellent emollient properties. Butterface uses tallow to soften and condition lips while beeswax, lanolin, and jojoba help create a rich, protective balm. Beef fat on your lips sounds weird until you try it.
Is tallow lip balm better than regular lip balm?
It depends on what you're looking for. Tallow is a lipid-rich emollient that softens and conditions the lips. Butterface pairs it with beeswax, lanolin, and jojoba to combine conditioning with protection against moisture loss. If you're looking for a petroleum-free tallow lip balm with a short ingredient list, that's exactly what we made.
Is tallow similar to the natural oils in human skin?
Tallow isn't identical to human sebum, despite what you may have heard online. But beef tallow contains fatty acids including oleic, palmitic, and stearic acids, several of which are also relevant to the lipid environment of human skin. That's part of what makes tallow such an interesting emollient skincare ingredient.
👄 Using Butterface
How often should I use Butterface tallow lip balm?
As often as your lips want it. Butterface is designed for everyday use, so apply whenever your lips feel dry or need a little extra conditioning. There's no required schedule and definitely no 12-step lip care routine.
Can I use Butterface tallow lip balm overnight?
Absolutely. Apply Butterface before bed as an overnight lip balm to help condition your lips and protect against moisture loss while you sleep. Consider it the world's easiest nighttime skincare routine.
Can I wear Butterface under lipstick or lip gloss?
Yes. Apply a light layer and give it a moment to settle before applying lipstick or gloss. Butterface can help soften and condition your lips so you have a smoother base for whatever you're putting on top.
Will Butterface melt in hot weather?
Like most balms made with fats, oils, and waxes, Butterface can soften or melt when exposed to high temperatures. Keep your tube away from hot cars, direct sunlight, and other very warm environments. If it does soften, move it somewhere cool and let it firm back up before using it.
How should I store Butterface lip balm?
Store Butterface at room temperature away from direct sunlight and excessive heat. Your purse? Great. Your nightstand? Perfect. The dashboard of your car in August? Please don't do that to her.
Is Butterface good for sensitive lips?
Butterface is made with a short ingredient list, but sensitive skin is individual. Lanolin and essential oils can cause irritation or allergic reactions in some people. If you know you're sensitive to an ingredient in the formula, Butterface may not be right for you.
📦 The Paper Tube
How do I use the Butterface paper lip balm tube?
Remove the cap and gently push up on the bottom of the paper tube with your finger to raise the balm. A little goes a long way, so only push up what you need. *Tip: Place the top of the tube (balm side) against your lips while you push gently from the bottom. This helps control the amount of balm being pushed out.
Can I twist Butterface lip balm up and down like a regular lip balm?
Nope. Butterface uses a plastic-free push-up paper tube, so there's no plastic twisting mechanism hiding inside. Gently push the balm up from the bottom as you use it. Less mechanism. Less plastic.
Why does Butterface use a paper tube?
Because putting a tiny piece of plastic into the world every time you finish a lip balm feels unnecessary. Butterface uses a plastic-free paper tube so we can make a modern lip balm with less plastic packaging. We also happen to think that it's way cuter.
How do I dispose of my Butterface lip balm tube?
Butterface tubes are made from biodegradable paper rather than conventional plastic. Once your balm is finished, follow your local waste or composting guidelines for coated paper packaging.
Is Butterface lip balm plastic-free?
Yes. Butterface lip balm comes in a plastic-free paper push-up tube instead of a conventional plastic twist-up tube. Less plastic hanging around for the next few hundred years. Very cute tube. Everybody wins.
🌿 Ingredients & Formula
Is Butterface vegan?
No. Butterface intentionally uses animal-derived ingredients including beef tallow, beeswax, and lanolin. If you're looking for a vegan lip balm, Butterface isn't the one. If you're looking for old-school, lipid-rich ingredients, welcome.
Is Butterface organic?
Butterface uses organic ingredients including organic beeswax and organic golden jojoba oil, but the finished product is not certified organic.
Does Butterface contain artificial fragrance or flavor?
No synthetic fragrance or artificial flavor is added to Butterface.
Is Butterface cruelty-free?
Butterface does not test on animals and is certified cruelty-free by Cruelty-Free Kitty.
Is Butterface petroleum-free?
Yes. Butterface contains no petrolatum or petroleum jelly. We chose to build our formula around tallow, beeswax, lanolin, and jojoba instead. Petrolatum is a highly refined petroleum-derived ingredient, and we just don't particularly want an oil-refining by-product on our lips. Call us old-fashioned.
Is Butterface seed-oil-free?
Butterface contains no conventional triglyceride seed oils like sunflower, soybean, canola, or grapeseed oil. We do use golden jojoba oil, which comes from the jojoba seed but is chemically different from conventional plant oils because it's primarily made up of liquid wax esters.
Does Butterface contain lanolin?
Yes. Butterface contains lanolin, a waxy substance derived from sheep's wool that has emollient and occlusive properties. It helps give the balm its rich, conditioning texture. If you have a known lanolin allergy or sensitivity, Butterface isn't the lip balm for you.
🧈 About Butterface
What is Butterface?
Butterface is an independent lip care brand making tallow-based, petroleum-free lip balm in plastic-free paper tubes. We use old-school ingredients like grass-fed beef tallow, beeswax, lanolin, and jojoba to make simple, effective lip care. We call it Analog Skincare.
Where is Butterface made?
Butterface is independently made and hand-poured in small batches in Massachusetts.
What is Analog Skincare?
Analog Skincare is our approach to making skincare a little less complicated: old-school, recognizable ingredients, simple formulas, and less unnecessary stuff. For Butterface, that means ingredients like tallow, beeswax, lanolin, and jojoba instead of building our lip balm around petroleum.
Where can I buy Butterface Tallow Butter Lip Balm?
Butterface is available online at Butterface.skin and through select independent retailers across the United States.
🧴 Comparing Butterface
What's the difference between tallow lip balm and Vaseline?
Petrolatum, the main ingredient in Vaseline, primarily works as an occlusive by forming a layer that helps reduce moisture loss. Tallow is a lipid-rich emollient containing fatty acids that soften and condition the skin. Butterface combines tallow with beeswax, jojoba, and lanolin so the finished balm conditions your lips while also helping protect against moisture loss. And, unlike petrolatum, tallow isn't a petroleum-derived by-product of oil refining. That part matters to us.