The Wrangler of Wellness

A Cowboy, Some Tallow, and the Most Unexpected Skincare Line

At Pike Place Market, where every corner hides a story and every vendor carries a past life, Jordan Barnes stands out as the craftsman selling skincare made from cows, bison, and a deep respect for the land. I found him on a morning thick with rain, doughnuts, and the splash of fresh fish hitting ice—a classic Market cocktail. He was setting up the Marrow & Tallow booth at the guest vendor stalls following a night of couch-surfing in Roosevelt with a crew of Australian friends, which feels on brand for him: friendly chaos anchored by purpose.

“I woke up, grabbed some cold pizza, and came straight here,” he said, offering the line as if it were a perfectly normal breakfast routine.

Staying put has never been his style. One week you might find Barnes in Idaho, the next back home, and by the weekend he could be knee-deep in work on a Montana ranch. Marrow & Tallow, the company he built, runs on old-fashioned relationships with ranchers across the West. That commitment keeps him out on the land, doing the work himself instead of flipping through a supplier catalog.

Before this life, Jordan was a University of Washington student just trying to make it through lockdown. After two weeks, the walls closed in, and the need for space (and something real) won out. Montana offered both. A family ranch took Barnes in, handing him days that started before sunrise and ended in mud, ice, and exhaustion. The cold bit hard at first, but the rhythm of the work settled into his bones.

During one of those long shifts, while skinning a cow, something clicked. So much of the animal was destined for waste, including the fat that earlier generations treated as a staple for everything from skincare to household remedies. Tallow suddenly looked less like a byproduct and more like untapped potential.

Jordan recalled, “You see the whole process and think there has to be a better way.”

He set out to make skincare that respects the body, full stop. No shortcuts. No mystery fats. No oils are blasted with heat until they’re nothing like the skin's natural oils. “Your skin sebum isn’t cooked,” he said. “So why would you put cooked oils on it?”

Barnes keeps his formulas simple and built around ingredients the body already understands. Tallow delivers vitamins A, D, and K. Bone marrow adds collagen-rich nutrients. Bison tallow brings a density and purity you can actually feel. Combined, these raw essentials are clearing eczema, healing chemical burns, restoring winter-torn skin, and helping people with injuries assumed to be permanent. A Navy Veteran once showed him a torpedo-fuel burn sustained decades past. After using Marrow & Tallow's Methylene Blue Collagen Cream, the scar transformation was so dramatic that Jordan began keeping a photo of the results with him.

When we envision Pike Place Market’s quiet command to Know the Producer, it’s easy to see how Barnes fits the spirit of that message. He knows the pastures and the animals, understands the ranching practices, and checks the suet himself, insisting that “Happy cows make the best tallow.” His partnerships stretch into regenerative bison operations that are conservation-minded, field-harvested, and run with an uncommon level of intention. These are the kinds of ranches where land stewardship isn’t a slogan but a daily practice; exactly the sort of work the skincare world would be wise to notice.

And if his résumé weren’t unpredictable enough, Barnes is also a professional Wrangler. A real one. He tackles the behind-the-scenes chaos at rodeos, sorting bulls, prepping broncs, and organizing steers before they charge into the arena. What began as a casual suggestion from a friend to "try wrangling" turned into a full-blown life detour. The self-described "city kid" stepped into the ring, found his rhythm, and eventually pulled his parents into the whirlwind right behind him!

Jordan guided me through the line of products that he says define his work. First up: the fan favorite Collagen Cream — a deeply nourishing blend built around grass-fed bison tallow and pasture-raised marrow, designed to support skin resilience and restore vitality. Then comes the Bison Balm — ultra-rich, pared down to two core ingredients for what feels like serious, elemental nourishment for overworked or dry skin. Finally, the classic Tallow Balm — an everyday go-to: it covers everything from faces to elbows, lips to heels, and adapts effortlessly to the most stubborn Southern humidity, Midwestern winters, or Seattle’s damp chill.

You’ll find Marrow & Tallow in a handful of well-loved spots across the Northwest and beyond: Leolo's Handmade Shoes & Leather Goods inside Seattle’s Pike Place Market, Marlene’s Market & Deli in Tacoma and Federal Way, and at specialty stores like Pilgrim’s Market in Coeur d'Alene, and Winter Ridge in Sandpoint, Idaho. His online shop brings the entire skincare collection to folks outside the region, keeping the richness of ancestral remedies within reach.

In an industry saturated with synthetics and elaborate twelve-step rituals, Marrow & Tallow's philosophy feels refreshingly elemental. It’s pared back and purposeful, shaped by real people whose work is founded in skill rather than spectacle. As Barnes put it, “It doesn’t have to be complicated.”

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