Two local businesses have teamed up in a collaboration that has resulted in a line of bath and beauty products made with locally raised buffalo tallow.
Black Hills Candle & Tallow, located in Custer, sources their buffalo tallow exclusively from Wild Idea Buffalo Company.
It started when Pamela and Patrick Boff founded Black Hills Candle in 2023.
An entrepreneur at heart, Pamela was excited to build their next business after having recently sold the wedding venue she and Patrick had built and managed for the last several years.
She drew inspiration from her childhood, where she grew up down the road from Yankee Candle headquarters in Deerfield, MA.
“What sets our tallow apart is that it’s from the buffalo. Buffalo tallow is the Cadillac of tallows.”
-Pamela Boff // Black Hills Candle & Tallow
While conducting research for their candle line, Pamela and Patrick quickly decided to look for an alternative to the toxic products commonly used in candle making.
“We came upon coconut apricot wax—a nontoxic candle wax—which doesn’t have any soot when you’re burning or extinguishing the candles, and it’s very clean,” said Pamela.
Taking it a step further, the couple made sure the fragrance oils they were using were nontoxic and phthalate-free.
After a year of research they started producing the candles, and opened the business in the spring of 2023.
A few months after opening the business, Pamela was approached by a woman in Custer who asked if she could make tallow products.
“I said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t even know what tallow is,’” remembered Pamela. “She gave me a sample. I went home, started researching
it, and discovered how amazing tallow is for human skin.”
Tallow is rendered fat from cattle, sheep, or other animals, and is a natural moisturizer that has been used since Egyptian times.
Pamela says tallow is nothing new, but is making a comeback.
TOP SHELF TALLOW
Pamela’s favorite products: Rose Whipped Buffalo Tallow Body Butter and Healing Salve.
Patrick’s favorite products: Patchouli Whipped Buffalo Tallow Body Butter, Buffalo Tallow Lavender Massage Oil, and Cedarwood Luxury Soap.
“People are tired of products filled with all kinds of chemicals that aren’t good for your skin,” she shared.
While searching for a source for their tallow, Pamela discovered Wild Idea Buffalo Company.
Upon further research, Pamela learned about the benefits of using buffalo tallow over other types of tallow.
“Buffalo skin and human skin lipids are virtually identical, so once you put that tallow on your skin, your skin knows what to do with it immediately,” she said.
“The best part about the job is creating a better world for our two young boys.”
-Jilian Jones // Wild Idea Buffalo Company
Wild Idea Buffalo’s animals are also prairie-grass fed, prairie-grass finished, and humanely field harvested, meaning the resulting product is free from antibiotics, artificial hormones, and all the stress hormones that result from commercial processing.
“You can’t get a better tallow from any other company because Wild Idea Buffalo’s products are truly organic,” said Pamela.
The family-owned and operated business was opened by Dan O’Brien in 1997 and is now run by his daughter and son-in-law duo, Jilian and Colton Jones.
“Under the Wild Idea product umbrella, we have 60 or 70 products, but they’re all really just byproducts of our mission, which is conservation,” said Colton.
“What the consumer is buying is not just buffalo meat, it’s species diversity, soil health, water and air quality, as well as environmental and human health,” added Jilian.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Black Hills Candle & Tallow will be traveling for shows, including the Buffalo Roundup Arts Festival September 26-28 in Custer State Park, but the online shop will remain open for orders.
Noticing the similarities to Black Hills Candle & Tallow’s mission to provide clean and non-toxic products, Pamela and Patrick knew they had found their ideal tallow supplier.
Jilian and Colton agree, recognizing the importance of working with people who prioritize quality, sourcing, and sustainability.
“Our partners have a tremendous amount of respect for the animal—the buffalo—and appreciate that dignity in death,” said Jilian.
Colton continued, “To find a partner like Black Hills Candle is a rarity. We’ve learned over the years when you find partnerships like that, you snatch them up and nurture them along the way.”
After another year of perfecting the product recipe, Pamela and Patrick chose a four-ingredient foundational blend of buffalo tallow, organic olive oil, apricot kernel oil, and essential oils for scent.
Ingredient lists are always kept short, all-natural, and non-toxic.
“If you can’t pronounce it, we don’t use it,” Pamela said.
The tallow product line includes Buffalo Tallow Whipped Body Butter, Butter-to-Liquid Massage Oil, Luxury Soap Bars, and Healing Salve.
The body butter is a light-bodied, whipped moisturizer intended for everyday use, whereas a jar of the butter-to-liquid massage oil produces enough product to allow three full body massages.
The Healing Salve is the company’s best-selling product.
“It’s truly amazing. I use it on my face because it has anti-wrinkle properties and anti-acne properties,” said Pamela.
The company recently launched their Mineral-based Sunscreen and Bubble Bath, and have three more products launching this fall.
Pamela says the sunscreen was an immediate hit, providing luxurious moisturization and utilizing non-nano zinc, with a soft coconut scent thanks to the coconut oil in the product.
Both companies have online storefronts where products can be purchased. Browse candles, tallow, reed diffusers, and skincare from Black Hills Candle & Tallow, and a variety of different bison cuts, seasonings, swag, gifts, and more from Wild Idea Buffalo.
Try a Prime Rib Roast for unbeatable taste and tenderness, a Porterhouse Steak from the thickest end of the primal loin, or Jill’s Burger, which combines buffalo meat with Jill’s special blend of seasonings and olive oil.
Their extensive selection of ethically-produced burgers, steaks, hot dogs and sausages, roasts, ribs, stew meat, and cured meats offers something for everyone.
“We offer a conduit for conscious consumers that want to feel good about how they’re spending their money, and in turn, give them a premium product,” said Colton.
