bloke wrote:Using salves and greases on the lips was a huge fad back in the '70's.
I don't really think it's a good idea.
Would you consider - as an experiment - weaning yourself off of it, and see if you do OK without it?
One particularly in vogue was this... Surely, not a very good thing to continuously use...(??)
Some of you know I've been directing a brass band festival in SW Colorado now for 35 years. The humidity is often in the single figures and at nearly 10 thousand feet not much natural UV protection. "Carmex" for decades had been a chosen treatment by many tourists who frequent the area. But those who continued there have realized that "Carmex" in particular creates a problem with the bodies natural lubrication fluids. The more it is used on the lips, the less natural lubrication the body produces, almost to a point that it will eventually create an "addiction" to the "Carmex." Not particularly a wise thing for brass players. We recommend that our players, if they must, use something more like a Vitamin E product, or even some of the more benign "Burt's Bees" sticks.
It is really easy to cook your chops at the high altitude venues. On one of the early seasons back in the '80s, I was slated to do a tuba solo with the brass band. From Minnesota to Silverton, CO is about 1200 miles and roughly 24 hours of rubber on the road time. Driving across Nebraska, Kansas and Eastern Colorado resulted in dry and burned chops. But it was not that problematic immediately. By the 3rd day, my chops were like a bratwurst where the sausage was cooked and the skin contracted. It was so tight I could not manage notes below the middle of the staff. The solution was a bit painful in its own right, but desperation forced me to be creative. "Dermabrasion" is a process where the skin is roughed up and the top layer of epidermis worn down or to some degree even removed. Fine sandpaper did the trick. The soft pink skin underneath was tender, but it did vibrate appropriately and I was able to play, albeit that I needed to use vasiline to protect it from infection. These days I use a sunscreen and drive the high plains after dark and miss the windshield sun and the left arm trucker's tan.
At the opposite end of things, living in Minnesota has problems created by winter conditions with sub zero temps and low humidity. Chap lips are nasty, so some sort of stick helps a bit. I find myself reluctant to use one though, as it seems almost impossible to get the residue off the chops prior to playing. I hate those greasy lips as I'm pretty much a dry embouchure guy. But in extreme conditions I will use something.
