Natural Skin Care for Men: The One-Jar Routine

Most men want a routine they can finish in thirty seconds and never think about again. That's achievable, and it's roughly one jar.

The same balm works as a face moisturizer, as an aftershave, and on the dry skin under a beard. Not because it's clever, but because all three of those are the same problem: skin that's lost more moisture than it can replace, and needs something back that it recognises.
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Whipped tallow body butter worked into a man's elbow behind the open amber jar.

Why it works

One Product, Three Jobs

Men's skin is generally thicker and oilier than women's, and it still dries out, still gets stripped by shaving, and still reacts to fragrance and preservatives like anyone else's.

Tallow's fatty acid composition is close to the oil your own skin makes, which is why it absorbs rather than sitting on the surface. That's the whole reason one jar covers face, neck, hands and post-shave without needing three formulations.

Blanco is grass-fed tallow, raw and unfiltered Texas honey, and vitamin E. No water in it, which means no emulsifier and no preservative either. The Alamo is the same base with frankincense resin oil for scent.

Tallow as an Aftershave

A razor takes the top layer of skin off along with the hair. That's what the sting is, and it's why most aftershave makes it worse: alcohol on freshly abraded skin, or a fragrance load on skin that has just lost its outer defence.

Tallow goes on that without stinging, because there's no alcohol in it and nothing volatile to burn. Warm a small amount between your fingers and work it into damp skin straight after you rinse. That's the whole routine.

Troy uses Blanco this way every morning and has for years, which is roughly how this brand started.
A wooden beard comb beside an open jar of tallow balm for skin under a beard.

Dry Skin Under a Beard

The skin under a beard is usually the driest on a man's face and the last place anyone thinks to moisturize. The hair wicks oil up and away from the skin, washing strips what's left, and the whole thing traps friction against a surface nobody can see.

Get to the skin, not the beard. Warm a small amount on your fingertips, push it down through the hair to the skin at the base, and work it in there. Then whatever's left on your fingers can go through the beard itself.

It's not a styling product and it won't give you hold. What it does is stop the flaking that shows up on a dark shirt.

Which One

Blanco has nothing added for scent, which makes it the one to use if you wear cologne and don't want two things competing, or if your skin gets annoyed easily.

The Alamo is the same base with frankincense in it. Fresh and clean, with a resinous note underneath rather than anything sweet, and it's gone within a few minutes rather than sitting on you all day. We didn't build it as a men's scent. It just works on anyone. If you like the idea of a scent that doesn't announce itself, that's the one.

Neither of them is going to smell like a department store, and that's deliberate.
beef tallow skincare whipped body butter

Hide & Honey

One Jar. Face, Aftershave, Beard.

Grass-fed, grass-finished beef tallow with raw and unfiltered Texas honey and vitamin E. No alcohol, no synthetic fragrance, no sting. Blanco is the one Troy uses after shaving.
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Common Questions

What's the simplest skincare routine for men?
Wash your face with something that isn't hand soap, and put moisture back while your skin is still damp. That's it. If you shave, do the second part right after. Everything past that is optional, and most of it is optional in a way the people selling it would rather you didn't know.
Is tallow a good aftershave?
It's one of the better things you can put on a just-shaved face. Shaving takes off the top layer of skin along with the hair, and most aftershave answers that with alcohol, which is why it stings. Tallow has no alcohol in it and its fatty acid profile is close to your own skin's oil, so it absorbs instead of burning. Apply to damp skin straight after you rinse.
Will it help dry skin under my beard?
That's one of the main things people use it for. Beard hair wicks oil away from the skin underneath and washing strips the rest, which is why the driest patch on a lot of men's faces is the bit nobody can see. Work a small amount down through the hair to the skin at the base rather than over the top of the beard.
Is it a beard balm?
Not in the styling sense. It won't give you hold or shape and it isn't trying to. It moisturizes the skin under the beard and conditions the hair a bit on the way through. If you want your beard to stay where you put it, you want a wax, and that's a different product.
Will it make my face greasy?
Only if you use too much, which nearly everyone does at first. A pea-sized amount covers a whole face. Warm it between your fingers until it turns liquid before it touches your skin, and give it a minute. If it still feels heavy after that, halve the amount next time.
Blanco or The Alamo?
Blanco if you wear cologne, since there's nothing in it to clash. Blanco too if your skin gets irritated easily. The Alamo if you want a scent from the balm itself, in which case expect something fresh and clean that fades in a few minutes rather than following you around. Troy uses Blanco.