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Company offers various products made with tallow

What started as fun for family and friends — mostly to help those struggling from acne, like she did — has turned into a full business for New Richland’s Sydney Lewer.

Lewer, who was raised in the butcher industry as the daughter of Dan and Amber Lewer, owners of Neighbor’s Meats, has started Syd’s Sleek Renderings, which offers a line of products created from tallow to help with acne, aging and healthier skin.

Sydney Lewer said before she discovered the benefits of tallow, she used to have 15 different products for her acne, which were all designed to drain moisture from the skin.

One day she heard about the benefits of tallow, which is created from the suet left behind after butchering a cow. Suet is the hard fat found around the loins and kidneys of a cow that is filled with all kinds of vitamins and fatty acids, she said. It is otherwise discarded.

To make tallow, the suet is cooked to a certain temperature five or six times, a process she estimated takes about nine hours and ultimately removes all of the impurities.

What results is known to be a great substitution for oil and butter in recipes. To make her products, she then whips the tallow together with castor oil and then infuses it with essential oils.

Lewer said she conducted research on how to make the products, talking to others who have experience in doing so.

She started out with whipped balms, making everything from face lotions and eye creams to deodorants and chapsticks. She is also getting into soaps.

“So far everybody’s loved it,” she said.

As far as she knows, there isn’t anyone in the area selling anything similar and noted that all of her products are handmade and local.

Word has spread mainly through word of mouth and she has also started a Facebook page about the business. Products are for sale at Neighbor’s Meats, and she is also working on a few wholesale options.

Neighbor’s Meats in New Richland is at 202 Ash Ave. S.