All Natural?

One of the most common questions I get is “Are your products all natural?”

Fort Kickass products are as natural as I can safely make them. I have rosacea, sensitive skin, and skin allergies, and my goal is to make products that are fun, fragrant, and safe for sensitive skin. The majority of the ingredients I use are natural, but there are cases where natural isn’t always safe and/or better for your skin. There are a handful of areas where I use non-natural ingredients to enhance my products:

1. Preservatives. Any product that is liquid or will be exposed to liquids needs a preservative to prevent molding. Our goat milk lotions all contain a small amount of a preservative named Optiphen. I chose Optiphen over a variety of commercial alternatives because it causes fewer reactions in folks with skin sensitivities.

2. Fragrances. I use a lot of essential oils in both my soaps and lotions, but I do not use essential oils exclusively. Certain oils, like orange and grapefruit, aren’t safe to use in lotion because they cause photosensitivity. Some oils, like lemon, don’t survive the chemical reaction in soap making, so they don’t add any fragrance. Others, like rose and frankincense, are just too expensive to be put into the product and still make a profit. Plus, there are a lot of fun fragrances that you just can’t recreate with essential oils. In these cases, I use commercial fragrance oils. All the fragrance oils I use are phthalate free, and I test them on myself for skin sensitivity before releasing them for public consumption.

3. Colorants. I use a variety of colorants, and some of the pigments and micas I use are non-organic (not natural) pigments. All of them are skin safe and have been tested on me prior to being released.

4. Polysorbate-80. I use this compound as a surfactant in some of my bath products. It’s safe and commonly used in a variety of food and cosmetics, and is what keeps your tub from feeling like an oil slick after your bath.

For customers who prefer to keep it as natural as possible, I do offer an assortment of soaps and lotions that use only essential oils and mineral based pigments, and am happy to work with you to find the best option for you!