Rubbing animal fat into your skin is a thing now.

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Well, this is definitely the strangest beauty news we’ve heard in awhile. Apparently the latest trend in beauty involves rubbing raw meat into your face.

Yes, seriously.

I’ll just give you a moment to let that sink in so you can picture yourself coming home from a long, hard day at work then giving yourself a relaxing massage with a nice hunk of animal fat.

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Rendered beef fat, or tallow if you feel like using the technical term, has been used in everything from margarine to makeup. In fact, it was a staple in homemade skincare products back in Ye Olde times.

Although tallow is still used in some products, Racked reports that over time, farm-raised animal fat has been replaced by more shelf stable petroleum-based alternatives. But it seems that fat is back, thanks to the increasing popularity of the Paleo diet. With tallow being celebrated as a natural and environmentally friendly conditioner for both your skin and hair.

So how does one go from eating meat to, you know, smooshing the stuff into one's face?

Kayla Grossman at Radiant Life Blog makes her own tallow balm, and says that while coconut oil was traditionally used in tropical climates, our ancestors in other parts of the world preferred tallow rendered from animal fat to nourish their bodies.

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Tallow, like butter and coconut oil, is a good fat that benefits both your skin and your heath. And Grossman is not the only natural beauty blogger raving about its benefits.

Marie Rayma, of Humblebee & Me, makes her balm by combining tallow, beeswax and rosehip oils, and uses it to moisturise her skin and treat eczema and stretch marks.

But whilst animal fat is a natural product that has many benefits when it comes to looking after our skin, it is hard to get people to take Paleo beauty seriously.

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Carissa Pfest, who now uses homemade tallow products was initially reluctant to try a sample whipped up by a friend. She tells Racked that "it seemed like I would be rubbing the ends of a steak on my face."

And while there are people who are certainly fanatical about the benefits of following a paleo skincare regimen, we think it will probably still be a little while before your facialist offers you a triple goose fat masque.

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 So, would you rub tallow into your face?