Why Ranch Raised Beef? Why Homemade Cosmetics?

For those of you that don't know me, my name is Samantha Alspaw, and I am the co-owner of Rockin' MT Ranch. I say co-owner hesitantly because this business was my husband's dream from the start, and I was just along for the ride. In the first few years I was not the supportive wife I wish I would have been. We had a young daughter with chronic health issues that were very costly, I was unable to work full time because I had to be my daughters full time caregiver. Money was tight. Stress levels were high. And starting a business requires a lot of time and money that we didn't have. Regardless of my negative attitude towards starting this business my hard-working husband got things rolling without much help from me! Now we have made it through the thick of starting a new business and my passion for what we do has grown. I fully believe in my husband and in this business that he has built. Once of my biggest regrets in our marriage is probably that I gave him so much push back on starting this whole thing up in the first place... but hey! Thats life. Fear can keep us from playing the game when God puts us on the roster! I'm so glad to say that both Nick and I are hard at work providing ranch raised beef and handmade, natural beef tallow cosmetics to our customers! And we're just getting started! Ideas are always flowing at our house (those of you that know my husband are probably laughing because you know his brain never stops with the business ideas) Anyway, a lot of explanation to tell you that Nick gives me half the credit for this business, but I don't like to take it.

Alright! Let's get to the meat of the blog post! See what I did there? 

You're probably wondering, why ranch raised beef guys? Why homegrown? Why beef tallow cosmetics? 

Well, there is an easy answer for all of that! We are stewards of Gods land, and he has given us all we need to live a healthy life! God created the Cattle, God created the soil, God created all of the products that go into our cosmetics. We strongly believe that God given is the way to go. We do not use chemicals. We do not use harmful toxins. We do not use hormones in our beef! We believe in safe products. If we wouldn't give it to our own children, we are not going to give it to you! 

So much of what is sold today in America is full of extra junk. Let's take a minute and look at the beef you would get from the grocery store for example. Did you know that when a store doesn't have an inhouse butcher and chop their own meats on site a preservative solution must be added when the meat is processed in order to extend shelf life??? Most of the time this pre-cut/pre-ground meat is being shipped from several states away and by the time they actually get it to the store the meat would be bad...hence the preservative solutions. 

Even if the store you're buying from does chop their own meats on-site they could still be filled with solution. You should always ask the meat department manager because most of the times they don't list that on the label. Some meat sold in stores even has an ingredient label?!? The only ingredient I want to see in my meat is beef! Nothing else!

These are just a few of the reasons that we are passionate about selling ranch raised meat directly to the consumer! We don't want to buy meat with any of that "junk" in it and we don't want you to have too either! 

As far as our new natural beef tallow cosmetics line...this has been on my heart for a while. I read an article a few years back that talked about Endocrine Disruptors. If you are unfamiliar with what an endocrine disruptor is here is a quick definition for you...

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals are natural or human-made chemicals that may mimic, block, or interfere with the body's hormones, which are part of the endocrine system. These chemicals are associated with a wide array of health issues. 

Now that we know what they are let me tell you where they are most commonly found...Cosmetics, food and beverage packaging, toys, carpet, and pesticides. When I found all of this out, I went into a deep dark hole of research. I was looking at all of the things that were happening to the children of America because of these man-made chemicals. I'm not going to scare you with what I found, I will let you do your own research. But that night, as I read this article, I quickly went to the bathroom and grabbed the lotion I was using on my two kids at the time. I was terrified of what I found on the label. Several known endocrine disruptors along with several other harmful ingredients that just simply don't need to be in there! So, I decided to do better! This sparked a desire in my heart to not only do better for my kids but do better for everyone. Shortly after that I found out how beneficial beef tallow is for the skin. The spark lit a flame and here I am today, making my own beef tallow products to share with you all in an effort to go back to the basics and provide safe and effective products. 

We will get into the benefits of beef tallow on skin and what it can do for you another time. But let me just tell ya, it is seriously so cool that the fat scraps from a butchered cow (that are usually just thrown away) can be turned into one of the best things for your skin and body. Thats how God designed it. Every part of the animal has a purpose and a use...you just have to figure out what it is!

Our hope is that we honor God buy using what he has blessed us with but also that we honor our customers by providing them with a safe alternative to products they use every day.