Primally Pure vs Wild Gold Tallow: An Honest Balm Comparison

Written by Jamie, co-founder of Wild Gold Tallow. Jamie left Los Angeles for a farm outside Asheville, North Carolina to raise the family's own food and first colostrum, and has a soft spot for short ingredient lists.

If you are looking at Primally Pure vs Wild Gold Tallow, you are comparing two brands that both take ingredients seriously and both use emu oil, which almost nobody else does. The difference is philosophy. Primally Pure builds a rich, do-everything botanical balm. We build the shortest ingredient list we can stand behind. This is an honest, side-by-side look so you can decide which approach fits your skin. We make one of them, and I will keep that clear and keep the facts straight.

Primally Pure is an established, well-loved brand with genuinely thoughtful sourcing. We are not knocking them. We just answer the same question in a very different way.

Primally Pure vs Wild Gold Tallow at a glance

Here is the honest breakdown. Both use grass-fed tallow and emu oil. The rest of the formula is where they split.

• Ingredient count: Primally Pure's Everything Balm lists around ten ingredients: grass-fed tallow, olive oil, emu oil, beeswax, essential oils of lavender and tea tree, marshmallow root, calendula, rosemary extract, and vitamin E. Ours is three: grass-fed tallow, first colostrum, and USA emu oil.
• Plant oils and beeswax: Their balm includes olive oil and beeswax. We use neither. No plant carrier oils, no beeswax.
• Fragrance: Their Everything Balm is scented with lavender and tea tree essential oils. Our unscented balm has no essential oils at all.
• Colostrum: Primally Pure does not use colostrum. We add rare first colostrum, the milking taken within about six hours of birth.
• Emu oil: Both use it, which is a real point in common. In their balm it sits among nine other ingredients. In ours it is one of three.

Where Primally Pure is a good choice

Give them credit. If you want a rich botanical balm with a lot going on, Primally Pure delivers. Marshmallow root, calendula, and rosemary are lovely skin botanicals, the lavender and tea tree scent is pleasant, and the brand has years of trust and organic sourcing behind it. If you enjoy a fuller, more spa-like balm and the botanical list is a feature to you rather than clutter, they are a strong, honest pick.

Where Wild Gold Tallow differentiates

Our belief is that a short list, done well, beats a long list. We made this balm for ourselves long before it had a name, and every time we tried to add something, we ended up taking it back out. What remained were the three things we could defend: 100% grass-fed tallow for a skin-compatible base, USA emu oil to carry nutrients deeper than olive oil can, and rare first colostrum for the growth factors and lactoferrin that no botanical provides.

Skipping olive oil, beeswax, and essential oils is not a shortcut, it is the point. Fewer ingredients means fewer things for reactive skin to argue with, and no water or beeswax padding out the jar. A little goes a long way, and the whipped texture absorbs in about sixty seconds when you use the right amount.

"I've tried so many other brands and this is the first brand that isn't greasy. I love how my face looks and feels." — Rhonda

Which one should you choose?

If you love a botanical, do-everything balm and want the plant actives and scent, Primally Pure is a fair choice. If you want the emu oil in a stripped-down formula, with first colostrum added and nothing to react to in the unscented, that is exactly what we make. See the full range in our colostrum skincare collection, or go straight to the Colostrum Tallow Balm. If firmer, more supple-looking skin is your goal, our guide to the best tallow balm for mature skin is a good next read.

Frequently asked questions

Does Primally Pure use emu oil?

Yes. Primally Pure's Everything Balm includes emu oil, alongside grass-fed tallow, olive oil, beeswax, essential oils of lavender and tea tree, marshmallow root, calendula, rosemary extract, and vitamin E. Wild Gold Tallow also uses emu oil, but in a three-ingredient balm with grass-fed tallow and first colostrum and nothing else.

Does Primally Pure use colostrum?

No. Primally Pure does not list colostrum in its Everything Balm. Wild Gold Tallow adds rare first colostrum, the milking taken within about six hours of birth, for its growth factors and lactoferrin.

What is the difference between Primally Pure and Wild Gold Tallow?

Both use grass-fed tallow and emu oil. Primally Pure's Everything Balm is a botanical balm of roughly ten ingredients including olive oil, beeswax, and essential oils. Wild Gold Tallow is a three-ingredient balm of grass-fed tallow, first colostrum, and USA emu oil, with no beeswax, plant oils, or fragrance in the unscented.

Is Wild Gold Tallow a good Primally Pure alternative?

If you want the emu-oil benefit in a simpler formula without olive oil, beeswax, and essential oils, and with first colostrum added, Wild Gold Tallow is a natural alternative. If you prefer a richer botanical balm with many plant actives, Primally Pure may suit you better.

The bottom line on Primally Pure vs Wild Gold Tallow

Both brands care about what goes on your skin, and both use emu oil, which is genuinely uncommon. It comes down to more versus less. Primally Pure gives you a full botanical balm. We give you three ingredients and add the colostrum they do not have. Neither is wrong, they are just different bets. If the simpler bet appeals to you, ours lives in the colostrum skincare collection, and you might also like our Hearth and Homestead vs Wild Gold Tallow comparison.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.