TromboneChat

Chapstick. Good or bad? Best Chapstick?

I use chop saver myself.  The idea is what some suggest is to avoid camphor, which is a relaxant.  Others don't seem to mind it. Do be careful to not get addicted to it. If you use it to much, your lips will feel dry even when they aren't! That happened to me for awhile, kind of annoying to break the habit.

Legend has it Carmex and some others, including Blistex (boo, long favorite) and I think Chapstick are bad for your chops some how.  In any case, I had tried many different lip balms trying to find the right one for me, and settled on Burt's Bees Acai berry.  Been using it for several years.

I guess it's kinda like finding the right mouthpiece... lol.  

Quote from: Matt K on Sep 22, 2015, 03:13PMThe idea is what some suggest is to avoid camphor, which is a relaxant. 

Ahhh, so that's it.  Good to know!

Quote from: SethMatrix on Sep 22, 2015, 02:26PMChapstick. Good or bad? Best Chapstick?

I seem to find every time I use a chapstick, usually in the winter, I get a coldsore on my lip which is not great for a brass player.

I have never used that stuff, even living through the north-east winters. I used to use a bit of vitamin E oil, but currently use nothing. Sometimes I get small pimples on my top lip, but that could be due to a kind of wimpy mustache, and not shaving regularly. My wife uses Burt's Bees or Carmex, and is constantly complaining about dry lips. Chicken or egg?

Interesting. Bill Watrous told us a story about Vit E when he was guest soloist at UCLA in the early '80's.  He had split his lip the night before a gig in Europe, and used a bunch of directly applied Vit E to get it to heal some.  Did the gig, hence loved Vit E.

As for chicken/egg on the dry lips, I definitely get dry lips, esp winter, if I'm not using some lip balm.  But it certainly can cause it too.  After posting previously, I did some research and some of the lip balms have alcohol in the ingredients which then makes your lips dry out.  Turned out my favorite Burt's acai berry actually had alcohol in it!  Fortunately not all of them do, so I'm trying some of the other flavors.  It pays to read the fine print!

Quote from: leec on Nov 24, 2015, 08:24AMI seem to find every time I use a chapstick, usually in the winter, I get a coldsore on my lip which is not great for a brass player.

Don't be cheap, buy your own chapstick.

Just saying.

I use pure cocoa butter.  Walgreens sells it in yellow chapstick - like tubes. It's the best lip product I've found for healing and soothing.

Burt's Bees. Living in Wyoming I had to use all sorts of things to keep my face from being destroyed, and over the last 6 or so years Burt's has not let me down. It also has a little SPF for the sun.

Chop Saver!  Tastes nice, and works great.  I buy it by the case and have a stick in my case, my car, my desk... good product and good pricing!

Burts Bees original peppermint. No SPF. It's like a subtle, soothing zephyr being pumped out of a thousand baby angels and across your face from the lofty reaches of heaven.

Don't forget to wet your lips from the inside, by staying hydrated.

Chopsaver all the way!

Quote from: harrison.t.reed on Nov 25, 2015, 05:36AMBurts Bees original peppermint. No SPF. It's like a subtle, soothing zephyr being pumped out of a thousand baby angels and across your face from the lofty reaches of heaven.

Yup.

Me too.

Stay away from the gummy stuff. Cakes up your lips. This is very natural and rinses away w/water. If it ain't water soluble...don't use it.

S.

For what it's worth, I've been successful at avoiding chapped lips in the winter by wearing a snowboarding tube.

On amazon it's a "Polar Fleece Neck Warmers Snood Scarf Hat Unisex Thermal Ski Wear Snowboarding" http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GV0HSFS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Its easy to wash, doesn't fling around in the wind like a scarf does, and can be pulled up over just the mouth or the nose as well.  When it's windy out but not too hot, I just put it over the mouth and it doesn't try the lips out.  I definitely recommend.

Strawberry Chapstick!

Quote from: harrison.t.reed on Nov 25, 2015, 05:36AMBurts Bees original peppermint. No SPF. It's like a subtle, soothing zephyr being pumped out of a thousand baby angels and across your face from the lofty reaches of heaven.
Excellent post.

I use Vitamin A&D Ointment.  Basically Vaseline with vitamins in it.  Great for diaper rash and chops.  Ask me how I know.

Chicken Poop is the best lip balm I have ever used. No not that kind of Chicken Poop... This bit.ly/1nGVM0u

The only thing that works for me is Burt's Bees. Nothing else.

There are a few things I use when I'm in a pinch, but I don't use them regularly because they don't work on an every day basis (i.e. carmex, Blistex DCT, & vaseline)

I've found that anything petroleum based tends to make my lips drier over time. Beeswax or Shea butter based products don't have this effect and so work a lot better for me.

http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/the-brass-junkies/

So listen to episode 24. It is with the guy who invented Chopsaver.  Apparently you can get a free sample from them.  Guy is a trumpet player from Indianapolis. His journey makes me want to try the stuff.

I don't generally use anything.  Maybe some vaseline when things get really bad, but I find hydration to be the better (preventative) solution.  Yeah, it is rough to keep up.

Cheers,
Andy

Another good one is Lip Ivo. It's cheaper than Chop Saver, has a nice vanilla scent and doesn't cake up!

If you're looking for another chapstick to try, I highly recommend it!

They have a website, but it's actually cheaper to buy it from Rivendell.

http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/goo11.htm

$1 at Dollar Tree. I just needed something quick.

I use lansinoh HPA - pure lanolin usually in the baby care isle (used for nursing mothers - don't laugh it's great stuff). I also use it for tuning slide lube. Doesn't irritate like a lot of the medicated lip balms do.

Quote from: robcat2075 on Jan 25, 2016, 08:19AM$1 at Dollar Tree. I just needed something quick.



I picked up one of these in the supermarket last week because I couldn't get hold of my usual Burts Bees.
It's actually very good, but I accidentally bought a tinted one. 
First time I used it, I didn't realise that I'd smeared pink stuff all around my chops for quite some time.  I usually rub balm on my lips and all the skin around the edges too, to protect it all from the nasty weather.

For about 6 months now I've been using Carmex Classic Medicated lip balm that comes in the white/yellow jar. I never thought about the camphor/menthol affecting the muscles in my lips, so maybe it would be best to find a different solution.

I feel like I have chapped lips over 50% of the time if not something more like 60%, and they often get a bit torn up from me biting off the skin despite my best efforts to resist the urge. This is a huge problem for me. Recently I'm setting a new goal for drinking more water so hopefully that will help although I always thought I drank a lot.

Could it also possibly be that my lips get chapped from breathing through my mouth when I sleep and otherwise?

Quote from: Krazzikk on Jul 17, 2017, 02:05PMFor about 6 months now I've been using Carmex Classic Medicated lip balm that comes in the white/yellow jar. I never thought about the camphor/menthol affecting the muscles in my lips, so maybe it would be best to find a different solution.

I feel like I have chapped lips over 50% of the time if not something more like 60%, and they often get a bit torn up from me biting off the skin despite my best efforts to resist the urge. This is a huge problem for me. Recently I'm setting a new goal for drinking more water so hopefully that will help although I always thought I drank a lot.

Could it also possibly be that my lips get chapped from breathing through my mouth when I sleep and otherwise?

Nailed it. Drink water, and cut out soda. Water cures everything. I knew a guy who was bald, overweight, a pirate, and had a peg leg. But then he drank water...

Trader Joe's, for some reason it just feels great.

LOL Virtuoso. Hahahahha

Virtuoso: 50% ORGANic / 50% PIANistic ?

Quote from: leec on Nov 24, 2015, 08:24AMI seem to find every time I use a chapstick, usually in the winter, I get a coldsore on my lip which is not great for a brass player.

You might be getting the causation backwards, there. I've gotten cold sores most of my life, and gotten better at preventing and clearing them up.

Cold sores are caused by the Herpes Simplex virus, which produces symptoms at times of weakness (hence, 'cold sores' and 'fever blisters'). The symptoms of the virus are also facilitated by chapped or sunburned lips. I'm guessing that what's happening is that you get chapped lips, then put the Chapstick on, then you get a cold sore, which is cause by the chapped lips which caused you to use the Chapstick, then mistaking the Chapstick rather than the chapped lips as the cause of the cold sore.

I try to keep SPF on my lips anytime I have exposure to sun, and to keep my lips from ever getting chapped, in order to avoid cold sores. For people who don't get cold sores, this may not be as important, but anything's better than a damned cold sore.

And that's why dirty cheek pinching Grammas shouldn't kiss grandkids. Protect your children!

Quote from: harrison.t.reed on Yesterday at 07:53 PMAnd that's why dirty cheek pinching Grammas shouldn't kiss grandkids. Protect your children!

You really do get the Herpes Simplex virus from your dirty kissing grandma, or more likely your parents. The thing is that most people have it. People who don't get cold sores are more likely to be asymptomatic than uninfected. If you get 'em (and they're freaking miserable), you have to learn how to prevent them, and how to make them go away.

The short answer to the former is to prevent chapped lips and sunburn, completely. That improves your odds a little.

Wow! Thanks guys! Now I have something else to worry about! I buy Chapstick by the case, am an avid user of it and never get a cold sore. But I will probably be covered with them soon now that my consciousness has been raised.   

My parents and grandparents are all gone so maybe I'm safe. 

...Geezer

I haven't used any lip balms for decades, but recall as a student at ESM when my instructor [Donald Knaub - RIP] suddenly grabbed my tube of ChapStick from my hand and threw it into a trashcan.  He told me to NEVER use ChapStick and told me to get something called "LipAde", which of course I did.  The issue wasn't anything about a magical formula but about the fact that ChapStick came packaged  in a metal tube and LipAde came in a plastic tube.  He wisely pointed out that if someone accidentally bumped me when I had it pressed to my lips that it would act like a "cookie cutter" and slice a chunk out of my lip !     The winters in Rochester, NY were usually horrific and brass players needed something with which to fight back.  Every once in a while some wise-guy would make a crack about my rather prominent proboscis and it wasn't until I pointed out that I was the only one in the brass department that had a "heated awning over my embouchure" that the wise cracks ceased !  A tuba player friend once pointed out that brass players should never eat fried chicken before a gig because the chicken fat wouldn't allow your lips to slide against each other.  Try putting a bit of chicken fat between your fingers and then try to slide them back and forth.  They won't "slide" --- they will "chatter" ---unlike if you used motor oil or even beef grease which allows them to "slide".  Not that anyone uses chicken fat in their lip balm, but I'd definitely suggest that test when choosing any lip balm --- you may be surprised !   Cheers !!    Bob

My friend Tesha makes nice natural things and I use her "All Healing Salve" - the little 1 oz tin is good size for lips.

http://www.teshastone.com/?product=all-healing-salve-29-g-1-oz

It's a simple formula of infused jojoba wax with beeswax: light mellow non-greasy healing that wipes away as desired.

This, or something similar that is local to you, is the only way to go.

 

I'm wondering when Chap Stick went from a metal tube to a plastic tube. All the ones I have stashed around my house are plastic tubes.

...Geezer

Quote from: Geezerhorn on Today at 10:22 AMI'm wondering when Chap Stick went from a metal tube to a plastic tube. All the ones I have stashed around my house are plastic tubes.

...Geezer

It's got to be at least 20 years.  I remember the metal tubes, but haven't seen them in a LONG time.

It shows my age, but the metal ChapStick container was circa 1956 ---- over 60 years ago !  GEEZ !!    I gotta go take a nap !  Cheers !!  Bob

Quote from: Terraplane8Bob on Jul 20, 2017, 01:52PMIt shows my age, but the metal ChapStick container was circa 1956 ---- over 60 years ago !  GEEZ !!    I gotta go take a nap !  Cheers !!  Bob

I understand that at that time "Knaubie" was the alternative to studying with Remington.  When Remington died a lot of his students got picked up by Don.  Others went insane

I have a recording of the Ithaca Brass Quintet with Knaub on trombone.  I understand he used to play the trombone parts on a single trigger bass.

Not exactly ChapStick related : Don Knaub taught all the euphonium and tuba students, although there were a couple of us who studied trombone with him.  I entered ESM as a euphonium student and so was assigned Don.  I started playing trombone my Junior year using a Conn trombone loaned to me by Emory Remington but stuck with Don.  An interesting horn, that, with TIS, friction fit between bell & slide sections and an "F" valve actuated by using a leather thong !  I never looked at the Model Number.  It played great !  Now : Back to the previously scheduled program ..................

Don Knaub did play the trombone parts on a single trigger bass, a Conn 72H with a 1 1/2G Bach mouthpiece, although he did have a Reynolds Contempora bass for several years prior to the Conn.  He later became a Yamaha Clinician and played Yamaha to the end of his playing career.

Quote from: Terraplane8Bob on Jul 20, 2017, 01:52PMIt shows my age, but the metal ChapStick container was circa 1956 ---- over 60 years ago !  GEEZ !!    I gotta go take a nap !  Cheers !!  Bob

Oh! You mean back in the Pond's Cold Cream era! Now there was some bad-ass Yamaha Snot of it's day!

Lol. I remember when Suzy Chaffee was hocking ChapStick

Lol. Someone had to post it.

...Geezer

Hi everyone !

Some chapsticks are good... and some are bad.

Some are good for skiing and horrible for brass playing ( like Nivea for example, it makes it hard for my lips to vibrate somehow )

SO what to choose?

What to look for exactly :

- does it leave residue?
- does it make it hard for my lips to vibrate?
- is it made with natural and nutrition rich oils ? ( avocado, calendula, ... )


Your lips should be hydrated but not soggy.

My personal favourite is the ChopSaver. I have used it for years now, with the classic one, and the SPF15 one when it is sunny out.

Here is a little article / video I made on that subject :

https://www.raphaelreiter.com/best-chapstick-lip-balm-for-musicians/

Hope it helps!

Hi everyone !

Some chapsticks are good... and some are bad.

Some are good for skiing and horrible for brass playing ( like Nivea for example, it makes it hard for my lips to vibrate somehow )

SO what to choose?

What to look for exactly :

- does it leave residue?
- does it make it hard for my lips to vibrate?
- is it made with natural and nutrition rich oils ? ( avocado, calendula, ... )


Your lips should be hydrated but not soggy.

My personal favourite is the ChopSaver. I have used it for years now, with the classic one, and the SPF15 one when it is sunny out.

Here is a little article / video I made on that subject :

https://www.raphaelreiter.com/best-chapstick-lip-balm-for-musicians/

Hope it helps!