Ganache for Lips started in May 2003 in the kitchen of the creator and owner, Patricia West. Just recovering from treatment for breast cancer, she was experimenting with essential oils in homemade body care products to help deal with the effects of cancer treatment. One project was a lip balm with peppermint oil. She continued experimenting, and ultimately, she struck on the idea of adding Scharffen Berger chocolate to the blend.

West started marketing on a shoe-string budget in April 2004 offering just the one product, an all-natural chocolate mint lip balm containing real Scharffen Berger chocolate. (Her first customers compared it to "a Girl Scout cookie".) Sales for the new product exploded shortly thereafter, and considerable press followed. After just four months, it was being sold in retail stores and websites across the country, and international distribution is in the works. All of this just by good word-of-mouth and West's old-fashioned and inexpensive "call them up" marketing strategy.

The demand for the product was so overwhelming that the line had to be expanded much sooner than anticipated. "Customers loved the lip balm so much," West said, "that they started asking for more flavors. I just decided to give the people what they want."

The lip balm line also contains high-quality ingredients such as Shea butter, vitamin E and apricot kernel oil, in generous proportions. The lip balm is all natural and preserved with Vitamin E and Rosemary Extract. Unlike many other lip balm lines, Ganache contains no petroleum products. The texture of the product is light, buttery and emollient. "I wanted to make a lip balm that was protective but not waxy like the other brands," said Ganache creator and owner Patricia West. "I think what we have here is something really luscious and decadent, really more of a lip conditioner."

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