An honest, mom-to-mom side-by-side. We're not here to throw shade at Primally Pure. We're here to put the two ingredient decks next to each other and let you pick what's right for your kid.

TL;DR

Both Eat My Face Baby Momma Cream and Primally Pure Baby Balm are grass-fed, tallow-based, fragrance-free, and aimed at sensitive baby skin. The biggest practical differences come down to ingredient count, the edible-grade standard, and price-per-ounce. Baby Momma uses four edible-grade ingredients (tallow, olive oil, beeswax, vitamin E) at $24.99 per 2 oz tin. Baby Balm uses tallow, emu oil, calendula, and unrefined beeswax at $20 per 1 oz or $34 per 2 oz.

Our pick for the simplest, mom-tested daily cream: Eat My Face Baby Momma Cream — fewer ingredients, fully edible-grade, lower price per ounce, and built around the same biocompatible-fat principle that's making tallow the quiet favorite among moms with eczema-prone kids.

Side-by-Side: Baby Momma vs Primally Pure Baby Balm

Spec	Eat My Face Baby Momma	Primally Pure Baby Balm
Ingredient count	4	4
Full ingredient list	Grass-fed beef tallow, organic olive oil, organic beeswax, vitamin E (tocopherol)	Grass-fed beef tallow, emu oil, calendula-infused oil, unrefined beeswax
Essential oils?	No	No
Scented?	No — fully fragrance-free	No — fragrance-free per Primally Pure
Edible-grade?	Yes, by design — every ingredient is something you could literally eat	Mixed — tallow, calendula, and beeswax are food-grade, but emu oil is rendered for topical use, not food use
Certifications / sourcing	Grass-fed tallow from US ranches, organic olive oil, hand-poured small batches in the USA	Grass-fed tallow, regenerative-farm story, made in the USA
Price	$24.99	$20 (1 oz) / $34 (2 oz)
Size	2 oz tin	1 oz or 2 oz tin
Price per ounce	$12.50/oz	$20/oz (1 oz) or $17/oz (2 oz)
Where to buy	eatmyface.co	primallypure.com

The Eczema Question: What Tallow Actually Does For Reactive Baby Skin

If you've ever stood in the baby aisle reading the back of a 30-line ingredient deck while your kid arches her back in the cart, you already know the problem. Most "sensitive skin" baby creams are still built on petrolatum, mineral oil, or a parade of plant oils plus a synthetic preservative system. None of those are evil on their own. But babies with eczema-prone skin have a thinner, more reactive moisture barrier than adults, and the more ingredients you put on it, the more chances there are for one of them to trigger a flare.

For the full rundown on tallow, eczema, and what to expect, see our full eczema guide.

Tallow is the opposite approach. The fatty acid profile of grass-fed beef tallow — palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, palmitoleic acid — is remarkably close to the lipid profile of human sebum. That's why tallow absorbs into the skin barrier instead of sitting on top of it like petrolatum. It supports the barrier, helps reduce dryness, and keeps moisture where it belongs.

It is not a treatment. It is not a cure. It does not heal eczema. (We have to be clear about that — and any brand promising those things is overreaching what cosmetics are legally allowed to claim.) What tallow does, well, is moisturize and support the skin barrier with a small handful of biocompatible fats. For a lot of moms with eczema-prone babies, that's exactly what their kid's skin actually needed all along.

Why simplicity matters more for babies: every additional ingredient is another variable. Reactive skin doesn't respond to "complex moisturizing complexes" — it responds to fewer, cleaner inputs that match what skin already recognizes. A 4-ingredient cream gives your pediatrician fewer things to side-eye and your baby's skin fewer things to react to.

And then there's the lens we keep coming back to: would I let her eat it? Babies put fingers in mouths. They lick wherever they can reach. If the answer to "would I let her swallow this" is no, then it probably shouldn't be on her cheeks either. That's the rule we built Baby Momma around.

Why Edible-Grade Matters More For Babies (Without The Fearmongering)

Quick honest take: we don't think conventional baby creams are dangerous. Millions of kids have grown up fine on Aquaphor and Cetaphil. But the math on babies is different from adults in two ways worth understanding.

• Surface area to body weight is higher. A baby has more skin surface relative to their tiny body weight than an adult does. Whatever crosses the skin barrier is being absorbed by a smaller system.
• Babies put their hands in their mouths constantly. Whatever cream you rub on her hands at 7am is going to be on her tongue by 7:04am. That's just life with a baby.

So "edible-grade" isn't a marketing flourish — it's a reasonable mom-brain question: if my baby is going to eat some of this, is it actually a problem? With Baby Momma's 4 ingredients (grass-fed tallow, organic olive oil, organic beeswax, vitamin E), the answer is no. With most conventional creams full of petrolatum, parabens, phenoxyethanol, and synthetic fragrance, the answer is "in tiny amounts probably fine, but you really shouldn't have to wonder."

Primally Pure's Baby Balm is also a clean formula — fragrance-free, no synthetic preservatives, grass-fed sourcing. The honest difference is the emu oil. Emu oil is a legitimate skincare ingredient with a long history of use, and many parents love it. But it's rendered specifically for topical application, not for food use. So it's clean, it's natural, it's not "bad" — it's just not edible in the same way the Baby Momma deck is.

Honest Take on Primally Pure Baby Balm

Primally Pure earned their reputation. Bethany McDaniel started the brand in 2012 from a single product made in her kitchen, and they've grown into one of the most established names in clean skincare. Their Baby Balm is a real product with real reviews and a thoughtful formula. We are not here to pretend otherwise.

Where Primally Pure wins:

• Brand recognition. If your sister-in-law has heard of one tallow brand, it's probably this one. That matters when you're explaining to a family member why you're rubbing beef fat on her grandbaby.
• Calendula-infused base. Calendula has a long traditional-use history for soothing irritated skin, and the calendula-infused oil is a thoughtful inclusion for the diaper-rash crowd.
• Emu oil's penetration profile. Emu oil is well-known for absorbing quickly and carrying other ingredients deeper. Different mechanism than tallow, but a defensible choice.
• Packaging. Their tins look gorgeous on a changing table. We'll give them that.
• The regenerative-farm story. They've publicly committed to regenerative agriculture sourcing for their tallow, and that's a real thing, not greenwashing.

Where it falls short for the most cautious moms:

• Emu oil isn't food-grade. If your standard is "I should be able to eat every ingredient," emu oil doesn't clear that bar. It's not bad — it's just not in the same category as olive oil and beeswax.
• Price per ounce. $20 for 1 oz works out to $20/oz. The 2 oz tin at $34 is $17/oz. Baby Momma at $12.50/oz is meaningfully less expensive on a per-ounce basis.
• Calendula sensitivity. Calendula is in the ragweed family. Most babies are completely fine with it, but if there's a family history of ragweed or daisy-family allergy, that's worth knowing before slathering it on a newborn.

If you're already a Primally Pure loyalist, their Baby Balm is a fine product and you'll like it. If you're looking specifically for the simplest possible edible-grade ingredient deck, Baby Momma takes that one.

The Baby Momma Walkthrough

Eat My Face is run by Jeff Frese — a solo founder who started this brand because his own skin was reacting to everything in the beauty aisle, and the thing that finally calmed it down was a cream his great-grandmother would have recognized. Every batch is hand-poured in small lots in the USA. There is no mystery contract manufacturer cranking out 50,000-unit runs in an industrial park somewhere.

Baby Momma was formulated around three rules:

1. Every ingredient has to be edible. Not "food-grade" with an asterisk. Actually edible. If we wouldn't let our own kids eat it, it's not going in.
2. The fewer ingredients, the better. Reactive skin doesn't need a 12-ingredient blend. Four ingredients, picked carefully, do more than twelve picked from a supplier catalog.
3. It has to work for both of you. Mom is touching this cream all day long. Why make her wash her hands every time? Baby Momma is named exactly what it is — a single jar that works on her chin, your hands, postpartum belly, dry cuticles, and whatever else needs gentle moisture.

The four ingredients: grass-fed beef tallow (the biocompatible-fat base), organic olive oil (extra moisture and a creamier texture), organic beeswax (gives it the soft balm consistency), and vitamin E (a natural antioxidant that helps the tallow stay fresh without synthetic preservatives). That's it. No phenoxyethanol. No fragrance. No "natural fragrance" weasel words. No fillers.

Mom FAQ

Is tallow safe for newborns?

Grass-fed tallow has been used on babies for centuries — long before the modern beauty aisle existed. Baby Momma is fragrance-free, edible-grade, and built around the same fatty acids babies are already producing in their own skin. Many parents start using it from day one. As always with anything new on a newborn, do a small patch test on the inside of an arm before going full-coverage, and check with your pediatrician if your baby has known sensitivities.

What about diaper rash?

Baby Momma is a fragrance-free moisturizer that supports the skin barrier — many parents use it for diaper-area dryness and rashes. We can't claim it "treats" diaper rash because that would be a drug claim and we don't make those. What we can say: a clean, biocompatible-fat moisturizer is what most pediatricians actually recommend for keeping the diaper area moisturized between changes, and Baby Momma fits that profile. If a rash isn't improving in 48-72 hours, see your pediatrician.

Will it stain clothes?

Tallow-based balms can leave a slight greasy mark on fabric if applied heavily — same as any oil-based moisturizer. The trick: use less than you think, let it absorb for a minute or two before dressing, and it generally doesn't stain. Most marks come out in a normal warm wash with regular detergent.

How is this different from Aquaphor?

Aquaphor's main ingredient is petrolatum (petroleum jelly). It works by forming an occlusive layer that locks moisture in. Baby Momma's main ingredient is grass-fed beef tallow, which actually absorbs into the skin barrier and works with your baby's skin lipids instead of just sealing them in. Different mechanism, different ingredient deck, very different ingredient story. Both are popular for different reasons.

Can I use it on cradle cap?

Lots of parents use a tallow-based cream on cradle-cap-prone scalps because the biocompatible fats help soften the flaky patches. We're not making medical claims — cradle cap is a condition, and persistent or severe cases should be seen by a pediatrician. But for mild dryness and flaking, a tiny amount of Baby Momma massaged in before bath time is a common move among the moms in our DMs.

When should I see a pediatrician about an eczema flare?

The rule of thumb most pediatricians use: see them if the rash is spreading rapidly, oozing or weeping, accompanied by fever, or just not improving after a week of consistent gentle skincare. Baby Momma is a moisturizer, not an eczema treatment — moderate-to-severe eczema needs a doctor's evaluation and may require medical-grade interventions. We're a "calm, daily moisture" play, not a "skip the dermatologist" play.

Is there a vegan alternative?

Both Baby Momma and Primally Pure Baby Balm contain animal-derived ingredients (tallow, beeswax). If you're looking for a vegan option, neither product is for you. The honest answer: there isn't a great vegan analog for tallow's fatty-acid profile. Plant-based balms work differently and have their own merits — they just don't deliver the same biocompatible-fat mechanism. If vegan is a hard requirement, look at shea-and-jojoba based balms instead.

How long does a jar last?

For daily face-and-body baby use plus mom's hands, a 2 oz tin of Baby Momma lasts most families 6-10 weeks. A little goes a long way — tallow is concentrated, and you don't need to cake it on. Once opened, use within 12 months for best freshness; the vitamin E helps it keep without synthetic preservatives, but tallow does eventually oxidize.

---

The Bottom Line

Primally Pure Baby Balm is a real, thoughtful product made by a brand that genuinely cares. If you love their ecosystem, their Baby Balm will not let you down.

If your standard is "every ingredient on this jar should be something I'd let her eat," Baby Momma is the simpler, edible-grade pick — at a meaningfully lower per-ounce price, hand-poured by Jeff in the USA, and battle-tested by moms whose 5-star reviews you can read on the product page.

Shop Baby Momma — $24.99

Made in the USA by Jeff Frese. 5.0 ★ on 3 reviews. Fragrance-free. Edible-grade.