Skin Care with Lard

If you have a bad case of acne, rub lard on your face. It sounds disgusting, but James Henderson of Concord, Virginia swears that it just might work.

He says a friend once told him about the skin healing powers of lard. James raises pigs on his farm and is committed to using every part of the animal. Since he was overrun with pork fat, James considered his friend's words of advice. While doing more research, he read stories online of people who use lard to heal acne, wounds, rosacea, burns, and scars, and also discovered it's a very good source of vitamin-D.

"I thought well, if lard's that good on its own, why not use lard as a carrier to produce even better products using the world's best quality essential oils and herbs," says James. "That was back in May when I started doing product development, and started using it on myself, my friends, my animals."

As James was developing his skin care line that he calls "Henderson's Heal-Fast," he found that slathering lard on straight will make you smell like a bacon cheeseburger. He tackled that problem by mixing it with essential oils and some plants grown on his farm.

James makes no medical claims and admits he doesn't really know why lard does what it does. He's hired a group of biochemists, essential oil experts, and researchers as his "lard council" to figure that out for him. But he says it's important to point out that not all lard is the same.

"Toxins are stored and concentrated in pig fat. So if you're rendering lard, don't ever buy grocery store fat from commercially-raised pigs," says James. "You're just preparing to jack your face or whatever you're going to use that product on full of toxins, so it's really critical that you start with the very best organic or naturally-raised pork fat that you can find."

It doesn't take much lard to be effective. Over-apply it and you'll feel like a greased pig.