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By Dan
Happy is the inventor who creates something for one market and then his/her product is adopted by another. Think Crocs®. Crocs were created as a spa shoe and later adopted by boaters. Now Crocs and their many imitators are worn by everybody. ChopSaver was originally created for musicians who use their lips to play an instrument. Sore, swollen or chapped lips can be a real problem when it comes to creating beautiful sounds on a trumpet or flute or trombone.
While my goal has always been to “cross over” much like Crocs did, I could never have imagined it would happen the way it did – via the medical profession. A few years ago, I received an email from a dermatologist. He was requesting samples of ChopSaver because a patient of his showed him the product. This patient was taking a drug for acne. It turns out one of the side effects of this particular class of drug known as isotretinoin is severe chapped lips. ChopSaver worked so well, the doctor wanted some of his other patients to try it. The doctor even posted something about it on a dermatology website and within in a few days, I had several requests from doctors for samples. To be honest, it took me a few months to grasp the ramifications of this. A formula that some trumpet player made in his kitchen was being recommended – “prescribed” if you will – by medical doctors! ChopSaver was bringing relief to a new group of people who were in desperate need.
Now, we split our marketing between our first niche – musicians – and all “People with Lips” using our newly earned medical seal of approval. We now attend medical events as well as our usual slate of music related trade shows. A product originally intended for band kids is now a fixture at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting, a gathering of thousands of dermatologists from around the world. It is this sort of exposure that will enable us to increase our presence in the mass market.
Categories: All Natural Lip Balm
By Dan
Anyone who runs a successful business will tell you it takes hard work, tenacity, patience and a little luck. I believe the luck is often a happy result of the first three items on that list. In other words, you often create your own good breaks.
One such example is how we were able to attract Sir James Galway, the world famous classical flutist, to be a ChopSaver endorser. Several years ago, Sir James was playing a concert with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. My wife, a violinist, was playing in the orchestra. I had hoped to somehow meet him and give him some samples of my new product. As it turns out, that couldn’t be arranged so we had some samples and a letter delivered to his dressing room and hoped for the best.
Months went by. We never heard a word from him or his agent. So I forgot about it. Then one day I received an email from a colleague that simply said, “Sir James Galway”. I replied and said “What about him?” The person wrote back and said, “There is a video on his website and he is endorsing your product. Here is the link.”
I was stunned. I clicked on the link. And there it was. Right after he discussed a new book he had just read, he held up a little green tube to the camera and said in his thick Irish brogue, “this…is a ChopSaver!” And he then continues with a short, but very positive review of my product. He never contacted me or asked for any endorsement fee. It was just a simple, unsolicited testimonial from one of the most famous classical musicians of all time. We have since met and thanked him many times. So was it just luck? Perhaps. But if we hadn’t reached out somehow and given it a shot, nothing would have happened. That’s one way to increase your odds!
Categories: All Natural Lip Balm
By Dan
There are literally thousands of lip care products on the market. What made me think the world needed one more? Despite all those other options, as I developed the formula for what would become ChopSaver, a quick survey of my musician friends told me that very few, if any, of the other products actually addressed the needs of musicians. No one could agree on any one product that really worked. When you play a brass or woodwind instrument, your lips can become swollen and even painful during periods of extreme performance or practice. Chapped lips can wreak havoc on your ability to produce a good sound on a consistent basis. The all-natural moisturizers in ChopSaver keep the surface of the lips predictable and reliable. The herbs help speed up the recovery process after a long day of playing.
If it’s so special for musicians, why would a non-musician use ChopSaver? Well, because of its unique formula, it just feels better and lasts longer than other products whether you play an instrument or not. Dry or chapped lip problems can happen to anyone. Sometimes the cause is extreme weather conditions or the side effects of drugs and medications. This is especially true with drugs such as isotretinoin, commonly referred to as ACCUTANE®. These drugs are used to treat severe acne but there are hundreds of other drugs that list dry mouth and lips as a side effect. With ChopSaver, these issues are much easier to manage and we have the doctor testimonials to prove it!
There are many examples of products that were designed for a small group of people and went on to become used in the mass market. Happily for us, and our satisfied customers, ChopSaver is another great example of that phenomenon.
Categories: All Natural Lip Balm
By Dan
So you have a product idea and maybe even some prototypes. What are you going to call it? You want something catchy and memorable and easy to pronounce. Do you want to describe the product with the name? Is the name something you want to trademark? Is the name already taken? Would it make a good name for a website? These are the kinds of things you have to consider when creating a new product. And these are decisions that could have great value should your product or idea become accepted in the marketplace. Trademarks, patents and copyrighted material all fall under the category of “intellectual property” and for some companies intellectual property is their most valued asset. Think about it – how much is the word “Coke” worth? Probably billions of dollars.
Sometimes the first name you come up with is the best but you should still test it against as many ideas as you can think of. The name “ChopSaver” beat out several other names. At one time we had dozens of them. A few favorites of mine were: ParaLips, Lip Tuner, ChopCare and Lip Lift. But we kept coming back to ChopSaver. It’s true; the name is a little “music-y” both most people understand that “chops” is not just “musician” slang as in, “I’m gonna bust him in the chops!” So if your “chops get busted” for any reason, grab some ChopSaver!
Categories: All Natural Lip Balm
By Dan
OK, so by now you are getting the idea that ChopSaver is full of really good stuff. I could continue to write about each and every ingredient and why they are in there, but that would be a little bit like Coca-Cola giving away their formula, wouldn’t it? Or Kentucky Fried Chicken (oh – sorry! KFC for those too young to remember Colonel Sanders!) listing all 11 herbs and spices. The fact is you can read each ingredient right there on every package of ChopSaver lip balm. We do that so people with allergies will know exactly what they are putting on their lips. A lot of thought, research and experimentation went into my desire to create the best all-natural lip balm you can buy.
Natural moisturizers.
You should know that every ingredient in ChopSaver serves a purpose. Those purposes are to feel good when you put it on and to make your lips feel better for a long time without having to re-apply it (the natural moisturizers), to actually soothe and heal any damage (the herbs) and to smell good (the citrus oils). Just that simple. Nothing artificial or hard to pronounce. ChopSaver contains no preservatives, no petroleum products and no alcohol. It is also gluten-free and contains no animal products other than high grade beeswax.
I like to call it a very efficient formula. Nothing is wasted. Everything in there does something to help your lips feel better. And it will keep doing that thing you love longer than any product on the market!
Categories: All Natural Lip Balm
By Dan
Here’s a fun word – astringent! When lip tissues become inflamed or swollen you just want them to feel normal again. You need something to relieve the puffiness that builds up in sore tissues. I didn’t even know there was a name for what I was looking for. What I needed was an “astringent”, a substance that brings things back in balance. Astringents are chemical compounds that shrink or constrict body tissues. That is why ChopSaver contains raspberry leaf. Raspberry leaf contains tannins. Tannins have that slightly puckering or toning effect that I wanted.
Many of the ingredients in ChopSaver instantly bring a pleasant sensation to mind just hearing the word. Words like citrus. Think lemon and lime. One ingredient that may have a somewhat less happy connotation is castor oil. But castor oil, like all the other ingredients in ChopSaver has a well-earned place in the ChopSaver formula.
Castor Oil comes from the castor bean. It is an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant oil which has been used for centuries for its therapeutic benefits which are believed to be derived from its high concentration of unsaturated fatty acids. Castor oil contributes to the smooth glide and feel that ChopSaver is famous for.
Categories: All Natural Lip Balm
By Dan
Avocado Oil
ChopSaver was created in my kitchen so it may not surprise you to know that a few of the ingredients are commonly found in a typical household. One of those is avocado oil. Truth be told, the first “kitchen oil” I tried was olive oil. I decided I wanted something a little more exotic. As it turns out, avocado oil was a little smoother and the feel was closer to what I was looking for. Avocado oil comes from the fruit of the avocado tree and is a nourishing oil for the skin and hair. Avocado oil is said to be rich in essential and trace minerals and Vitamin A. It is also high in sterolins, which are reputed to reduce age spots and help heal sun damage and scars. It is the sterolins (also called plant steroids) in the oil that helps to soften the skin and impart a superior moisturizing effect.
Another therapeutic substance found in practically any home is aspirin. But using an actual drug in my product was going to make producing my all natural lip balm even more complicated. I knew I was on an “all natural” path and it turns out aspirin was originally derived from an herb called white willow. In fact aspirin and white willow are nearly identical in their chemical make up. White Willow is derived from the bark of willow trees and contains salicin, an analgesic compound from which salicylic acid and later acetylsalicylic acid (otherwise known as aspirin) were derived. It is often referred to as “herbal aspirin.” It should be noted that people with aspirin allergies should use it with caution. With white willow, I now had a natural ingredient that could deliver the same analgesic, pain-reducing effect one looks for when they take an aspirin. When your lips hurt, that is a good thing!
Categories: All Natural Lip Balm
Tags: avocado oil, kitchen ingredients, lip balm
By Dan
Let’s talk about some of the other things that make ChopSaver unique. Mind you this all started in 2004 and I have always been grateful that I live in the age of Google! Between my computer, a few nearby health food stores and a local herbalist I knew, I learned as much as I could about the healing properties of herbs and which ones would match the symptoms I was looking to address. As a trumpet player, I was looking for something that would help with the lip soreness and stiffness that can happen after a long day of playing. While these may seem to be problems very specific to people who play a wind or brass instrument, I always knew that a lip product that felt good, smelled good and didn’t dry out your lips would have mass appeal – musician or not. Amazingly enough, a lot of lip care products can sting when applied, smell like medicine and they seem to actually do more harm than good. Not what I was looking for. I was determined my all-natural lip balm would be different!
While my crash course in herbology was gaining me a lot of new found knowledge, there were a few ingredients I was already familiar with and knew they would find their way into my formula. I recall using aloe vera gel to soothe a very bad sunburn I had years ago and I began using that ingredient very early in the formulation process. Aloe vera is a transparent gel from the pulp of the meaty leaves of the aloe vera plant. It has been used topically for thousands of years to treat wounds, skin infections, burns, and many other skin conditions.
My research led me to another herb called calendula. Calendula comes from the flower petals of the calendula plant or marigold, and has been used for medicinal purposes since at least the 12th century. Calendula contains high amounts of flavonoids which are plant-based anti-oxidants that protect the body against cell-damaging free radicals. Researchers are not sure what active ingredients in calendula are responsible for its healing properties, but it appears to have anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-bacterial effects.
Another herb and another smooth soothing ingredient were now part of the exclusive club that would come to be known as ChopSaver!
Categories: All Natural Lip Balm
Tags: all natural, ingredients, lip balm
By Dan
Arnica Montana
It all started with arnica – the ingredient that first inspired the creation of ChopSaver. Belonging to the sunflower family, Arnica Montana (or just simply arnica) is an herb that has been used by Europeans and Native Americans for centuries for bruising and swelling and is often recommended by medical doctors before and after surgery.It is also used by sports trainers and massage therapists. It contains helenalin, a chemical known for its anti-inflammatory properties.
In May of 2004, a former student and close friend of mine named Wesley Bullock explained to me how he treated a lip injury he incurred in a marching band setting with a topical version of the herb. I had never heard of arnica but the healing he described was so miraculous that my very life turned on that conversation. If there was something as powerful as arnica out there, why wasn’t it being harnessed and used by all musicians to combat the lip swelling that can occur when playing a wind or brass instrument? The idea for a more advanced, super-healing lip care product was born.
Soon after that conversation, I shared my idea with a few musician friends, one of whom suggested I incorporate shea butter into my concoction. Just like arnica, I had never heard the term shea butter. Shea Butter is a natural plant extract with exceptional moisturizing properties which comes from the nut of shea trees (called karité in the local dialect) in West Africa. The tree produces nuts for up to 200 years after reaching maturity. Shea butter is a particularly effective moisturizer due to its high content of fatty acids which are needed to retain skin moisture and elasticity. Shea butter is found in high-end cosmetics and is one of the reasons ChopSaver feels so good when you put it on. With arnica and shea butter, I now had a framework – a benchmark if you will – for the other soothing and healing ingredients I was about to discover.
Categories: All Natural Lip Balm
Tags: all natural, natural moisturizer
By Dan
OK, so what do we mean when we say ChopSaver is “all-natural?” When describing our product, we often compare it to petroleum-based products. I turns out there is some debate about where petroleum actually came from and the “dead dinosaurs” thing is pretty much a myth. (Try Googling: “Does oil come from dead dinosaurs?” for some interesting reading.) But if we agree with the many scientists who say oil did start as organic matter, than you could say that oil is “natural.” However, petroleum has gone through some drastic changes from its plant origins over millions of years, assuming you subscribe to that theory.
Shea Butter
A good way of thinking of “all-natural” is to say “plant based with little or no change in the basic ingredient.” Yes, that’s a mouthful. But with a product like ChopSaver we’re talking about two basic components – natural moisturizers or emollients (things like shea butter, mango butter, aloe and avocado oil) and plants traditionally used for medicinal purposes (such as arnica, calendula, comfrey and white willow) known collectively as herbs.
In the coming weeks, we will examine every single ingredient in ChopSaver and discuss why it’s in there. In the meantime, take some Vaseline and rub it between your fingers. Then find some shea butter (any health food store should have some) and do the same thing. Then ask yourself which one feels better. I thought so!
Categories: All Natural Lip Balm
Tags: all natural, lip balm, natural moisturizer
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