Don’t Fall for the Hype: Why We Don’t Make Magnesium-Infused Tallow

A trending ingredient doesn’t automatically make a better skincare product. And adding magnesium chloride flakes to tallow doesn’t automatically create a well-formulated magnesium cream.

At Straight Arrow Farms, we want every ingredient to have a clear purpose. Here’s why we choose not to add magnesium chloride flakes to our tallow moisturizers.

Magnesium chloride doesn’t dissolve in oil

Tallow is a fat. Magnesium chloride is a salt that dissolves in water, not oil. Simply stirring magnesium chloride flakes into melted tallow does not dissolve them into the balm.

Undissolved crystals can affect the texture of the finished product. A mixture looking smooth is not, by itself, proof that the ingredient is evenly distributed, and the amount added to a jar does not tell you how much your skin absorbs.

“Magnesium oil” isn’t actually an oil

Despite its name, magnesium oil is typically magnesium chloride dissolved in water. The name refers to its slippery feel, not to it being an oil that will simply blend into tallow.

Adding that solution to a tallow balm introduces water, and that changes the formulation.

Adding water means more than adding another ingredient

A dependable water-and-fat cream needs an appropriately designed emulsifying system to keep its components together. Introducing water also changes preservation requirements.

The finished formula needs appropriate stability and microbial safety testing. A good stir and a nice-looking jar are not substitutes for that work.

This does not mean magnesium and tallow can never belong in the same product. It means combining them is not, on its own, evidence of safety, stability, or effectiveness.

Why We Offer Magnesium Lotion Separately

We’re not against magnesium. In fact, it’s an essential mineral with an important role in normal muscle and nerve function. That’s part of what makes it such an interesting ingredient, but its nutritional benefits don’t automatically establish the benefits of applying it to skin.

For our Magnesium Lotion, we bring genuine Zechstein seabed magnesium chloride together with shea, hemp, and jojoba in a moisturizing formula that leaves skin feeling soft and smooth.

Our Alberta Grass Fed Tallow Cream offers a different skincare experience, centred on rich, tallow-based moisture. We choose to offer these as separate products rather than add magnesium chloride flakes to our tallow cream.

Two different formulas, each with a clear purpose. Explore our Magnesium Lotion for mineral-rich moisturizing care, or our Alberta Grass Fed Tallow Cream for rich, softening moisture.