Why are people smearing beef fat on their face?

By Brittany Luse,

Liam McBain, Barton Girdwood, Jasmine Romero, Veralyn Williams

Published January 20, 2025 at 7:53 AM EST

According to Pew Research Center, 79% of New Year's resolutions are about one thing: health. It's Been a Minute is kicking off 2025 with a little series called "new year, new me." We're getting into some of the big questions and cultural confusion around our health and wellness.

For our final installment, we're getting into a new skincare trend: using beef tallow as a moisturizer. That's right – beef fat rendered from suet is one of the trends du jour. Brittany Luse sits down with Marie Claire senior beauty editor Samantha Holender and beauty journalist Jennifer Sullivan to understand why the beef tallow trend has taken off, what it says about what we value in our skin care, and whether we should be using beef tallow at all.

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Brittany Luse

Brittany Luse is an award-winning journalist, on-air host, and cultural critic. She is the host of It's Been a Minute and For Colored Nerds. Previously Luse hosted The Nod and Sampler podcasts, and co-hosted and executive produced The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily streaming show. She's written for Vulture and Harper's Bazaar, among others, and edited for the podcasts Planet Money and Not Past It. Luse and her work have been profiled by publications like The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vulture, and Teen Vogue.

Liam McBain

Liam McBain (he/him) is an assistant producer on It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders. He's interested in stories at the margins of culture.

Barton Girdwood

Jasmine Romero

Veralyn Williams

Veralyn Williams (she/her) is a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist who has been asking hard questions about our world since she picked up her first microphone in 2004. Now she brings her skills (and ears) to her role as executive producer of programming at NPR.