A tallow and honey balm works as a moisturizer, mostly thanks to the tallow. Honey is a humectant, but in a jar with no water it chiefly changes the feel and the smell. Its pull on water doesn't amount to much next to what the fat does.
Our honey jar is Honey Glow ($42), and it's built a different way: an oil-soluble manuka honey extract that dissolves into the fat, with no beeswax. Prices and competitor facts in this post are as of October 5, 2026, the day I read every page.
What does honey do in a balm with no water?
USDA FoodData Central lists honey at 17.1 grams of water and 82.1 grams of sugars per 100 grams, with no fat at all. Neither sugar nor water dissolves in fat. Stir raw honey into melted tallow and it sits there as tiny droplets, and with no emulsifier to hold them, those droplets can settle out over the months a jar sits. That's one reason so many honey balms lean on beeswax. A firmer set holds the honey in place, and four of the five honey balm pages I read name beeswax. Whipping doesn't change the chemistry. A whipped tallow honey balm folds air into the fat as it sets. The honey gets worked in cold, and it sits there as droplets all the same.
Honey is a humectant, a material that draws water toward itself. A 2026 systematic review by Veloso and De Andrade Royo notes that the cosmetic ingredient naming system lists it as one. In a jar with no water, that pull stays small, and it's the fat that does most of the work of holding moisture in your skin. Our posts on manuka honey in skincare and inside Honey Glow walk through the longer chemistry.
What do UMF and MGO mean on manuka?
Manuka is a monofloral honey, which means bees made it mostly from one plant, the manuka tree, Leptospermum scoparium. Both of its common grades lead back to one compound, methylglyoxal. MGO is short for it. A 2014 review in Foods by Alvarez-Suarez and colleagues says manuka's strong antibacterial activity comes straight from its methylglyoxal. The review calls that activity the unique manuka factor, or UMF.
A grade describes the honey that went into the jar, as measured in a lab before it ever met a fat. It can't tell you what that honey does in a balm. Of the five honey balm pages I read on October 5, 2026, only one states a grade, and that's Neptune's UMF 10+ raw manuka from New Zealand.
What do the skin studies on honey show?
Most of it is wound care, done with medical honey under a clinician's watch. Alvarez-Suarez and colleagues note that honey, an old topical remedy for wounds, is now a licensed medical device in conventional medicine. None of it transfers to a cosmetic balm on intact skin. Wounds and burns belong with a clinician. I make the balm I'm about to recommend. It's cosmetic care, not a treatment. Your provider's plan comes first.
The cosmetic research is thinner, and most of it isn't about balms at all. Veloso and De Andrade Royo found only five randomized trials of honey as a moisturizing ingredient, and most tested creams and emulsions holding 2 to 15% honey. Honey creams in those trials showed hydration gains of up to 29.7% after four weeks. The authors flag mixed designs and unstandardized methods. Those were water-based products, so they say little about honey in a balm with no water at all.
How do five tallow and honey balms compare?
We haven't tested their balms against ours in a lab, and every fact below came off their live pages on October 5, 2026. These are five honey balms people search for by name, with Honey Glow added as a sixth row.
| Balm | Ingredients | Honey | Essential oils | Per ounce | Texture word |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Based Supplies | Full list shown as a photo | Not named in text | Under 1%, unnamed | $15 (2 oz, $30) | None given |
| Evil Goods | 4, plus Manuka | Manuka, no grade | None named | $8.75 (4 oz, $34.99) | "whipped" |
| Neptune | 4 | Raw Manuka, UMF 10+ | None named | Size not stated ($33) | "no greasy feel" |
| VanMan | 5 listed | Organic raw | 8 named | $14.50 (2 oz, $29) | "silky" |
| Ancestral Cosmetics | 10 | Raw Irish | 6 named | €13 (60 ml, €26) | "velvety" |
| Craft Honey Glow | 8 (classic) | Manuka extract, oil-soluble | None | $21 (2 oz, $42) | dense |
Each one does something well. Based Supplies keeps its essential oils under 1% and sells a version with none. Evil Goods spells out a short recipe in plain words, and it's the only one of the five without beeswax. Neptune is the only page that states a manuka grade. VanMan names all eight essential oils in its classic jar, and it sells a version with no added scent for anyone who'd rather skip them. Ancestral Cosmetics names all six of its essential oils and says its raw honey is Irish.
Which tallow and honey balm should you pick?
Honey Glow is a third way to build a honey balm, and it starts by dropping raw honey. Its manuka is an oil-soluble extract that dissolves into the fat. There's nothing to hold in place, so there's no beeswax. Suet tallow, cold-pressed oat oil, squalane and calendula CO2 sit around the extract in a dense, poured jar. It isn't the cheapest jar here.
VanMan and Ancestral Cosmetics suit anyone who wants raw honey with beeswax, and both list every essential oil in full. If you want honey in a balm for dry, thirsty skin and an even jar with no beeswax, Honey Glow is the one I'd hand you. If you'd rather skip honey and scent altogether, Bare Silk Unscented ($34) is the plainer pick.
The jar for this job is Honey Glow ($42). Subscribe to two jars and a third rides free, and every subscription takes 25% off the first delivery.
Questions we hear
Does a tallow and honey balm work?
Yes, as a moisturizer. Most of that work is the tallow's, and honey is a humectant whose pull on water stays small in a jar with no water. So the honey mostly changes the feel and the smell. A 2026 systematic review found only five randomized trials of honey as a moisturizing ingredient, nearly all in water-based creams, so the evidence for honey inside a balm is thin.
Is manuka honey better than raw honey in a balm?
Manuka's grades, UMF and MGO, track methylglyoxal, the compound behind much of its antibacterial strength in lab work. That matters in wound care, where medical honey is a licensed medical device. I haven't found a study comparing manuka with raw honey in a balm on intact skin, so it's fair to choose on feel and on how well the jar holds together.
Why do most honey balms contain beeswax?
Honey is mostly sugar and water, and neither one dissolves in fat. Without an emulsifier, raw honey sits in a balm as droplets that can settle over the months a jar sits, and beeswax firms the set so the honey stays put. Four of the five honey balm pages we read on October 5, 2026 name beeswax. Honey Glow uses an oil-soluble manuka extract in place of raw honey, so the jar doesn't need any beeswax to hold it.
Does a tallow and honey balm smell like honey?
Less than you'd think. In scented jars, essential oils usually lead the smell, so if you want honey without perfume, look for an unscented version. Honey Glow carries no essential oils. It smells of warm honey with a cereal note from the oat oil, and the scent softens as the balm settles into your skin.
Is tallow and honey balm legit?
The moisturizing part is legit, and the tallow does most of it by slowing water loss from your skin. Honey is a humectant that holds water, though its pull stays small in a jar with no water. The hype is anything borrowed from wound care. Most skin research on honey uses medical honey on wounds under a clinician's watch, and none of it transfers to a cosmetic balm. A manuka grade measures the honey in a lab, so it can't promise what a jar does on your face.
Does tallow and honey balm work for wrinkles?
For the look of fine lines, it helps a little, and mostly while it's on. A plain fat holds water in the top layers of skin, so fine lines look softer for the hours the balm sits there. The honey adds little to that, and no fat removes a wrinkle or changes collagen. Our post on whether beef tallow helps with wrinkles covers where an active like bakuchiol comes in.
Is tallow and honey balm good for your face?
For dry and normal faces, yes. Warm a pea between two fingertips and press it onto skin that's still damp from washing. If you keep your face fragrance-free, skip it. Even Honey Glow, with no essential oils, smells of warm honey, and Bare Silk Unscented is the plainer pick. If you've got a bee or pollen allergy, ask an allergist before any honey jar goes on your face.
What are the benefits of a tallow and honey balm?
Most of the benefit is the tallow's: it slows water loss and softens the feel of dry skin for hours. Honey is a humectant that holds water near the surface, a small effect in a jar with no water. The look of dull, dry skin brightens once it's hydrated. Honey's antibacterial research comes from wound care with medical honey, and it doesn't carry over to a cosmetic. The balm isn't a treatment for any condition. Honey Glow ($42) uses an oil-soluble manuka extract in place of raw honey.
Go deeper
For two brands at a time, read Evil Goods vs Based Supplies and Neptune vs VanMan. Our best tallow balm roundup sets eight brands side by side, and our post on oat oil and calendula explains the other two botanicals in Honey Glow. If you're new to tallow on skin, start with the beef tallow for skin guide. Ancestral Cosmetics vs Tallow Me Pretty sets two honey balms side by side.
Sources
- Veloso PHF and De Andrade Royo V (2026). Efficacy of honey as a moisturizing ingredient in cosmetic formulations: a systematic review of clinical trials. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 25(7).
- Alvarez-Suarez JM and colleagues (2014). The composition and biological activity of honey: a focus on manuka honey. Foods 3(3):420 to 432.
- United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (2019). Honey. FoodData Central database, SR Legacy release, FDC ID 169640, USDA.
- Based Supplies (2026). Tallow & Honey Balm, 2 oz, the scented version with essential oils under 1%. The brand's own website, basedsupplies.com, read October 5, 2026.
- Evil Goods (2026). Whipped Tallow & Manuka Honey Moisturizer, a 4 oz jar sold in five scent options. The brand's own website, evilgoods.com, read October 5, 2026.
- Neptune Health (2026). Grass Fed Tallow & Honey Balm, the four-ingredient jar featured on the brand's home page. The brand's own website, neptunehealthco.com, read October 5, 2026.
- VanMan (2026). VanMan's Tallow & Honey Face Balm, Classic, the scented 2 oz and 6 oz jars. The brand's own website, vanman.shop, read October 5, 2026.
- Ancestral Cosmetics (2026). Original Tallow & Honey Balm, 60 ml, the scented jar with six essential oils. The brand's own website, ancestralcosmetics.com, read October 5, 2026.
Brian is the founder of Craft Tallow, a small-batch tallow skincare line shipped from Cottonwood Heights, Utah, built on 100% grass-fed suet. Questions? Reply to any email from us; it lands with him.