A decade ago, Lindsey and Vincent Ip noticed their first son, now 13 years old, slept with his mouth open, snored heavily and suffered from apnea. Desperate to help, they searched high and low for solutions, and Vincent, a dentist, embarked on extra training and residencies to become a specialist in treating airways and sleep disorders. In the process, the Ips ran across mouth tape from the brand SomniFix.
“[Their] full-coverage option was a bit daunting,” says Lindsey Ip, who has a background in marketing and works with her husband at his two dental offices in Austin, Tex. “I didn’t feel comfortable putting that on my 3-year-old or myself even, and we really didn’t want to recommend that to patients either.”
The Ips didn’t abandon the idea of mouth tape, however. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and the dental offices were closed, they started playing around with designs for a mouth tape brand of their own. They sought to create a skin- and kid-friendly variety. After pouring $500,000 into development, the Ips launched self-funded VIO2, a non-full coverage mouth tape to support the jaw and fit faces of users from 5 to 105 years old, in November 2021.
Since the start of VIO2, mouth taping—the practice of taping the mouth shut to encourage nasal breathing during sleep—has become increasingly mainstream. It’s estimated to be a nearly $3 billion business and the hashtag #mouthtaping has surpassed 200 million TikTok views. Podcasts by Dhru Purohit, Andrew Huberman and Matt Walker are among those that have explored mouth taping.
In 2020, author and journalist James Nestor released the New York Times bestseller, “Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art,” advocating for mouth taping to improve sleep quality. In the beauty industry, Lauryn Bosstick, creator of The Skinny Confidential, has been a big proponent of mouth taping and began selling mouth tape last year.
“Customers have become more wellness-focused since COVID-19,” says Ip. “I think it was the catalyst of people wanting to make their own health choices and be more involved in things. It’s a very interesting time where people are paying more attention to their health and want drug-free, natural options.”
VIO2 has benefited from mouth tape momentum. Its sales are already up over 100% this year. For the full year, it’s on track to generate $3 million in sales. Next year, it’s targeting $5 million to $10 million in sales.
VIO2 describes its mouth tape as the No. 1 mouth tape recommended by medical professionals. The brand holds a patent on its I-shaped adhesive mouth tape constructed from a cotton blend and 5% spandex to keep the muscles surrounding the mouth and jaw in place and relaxed while sleeping. A 48-pack of VIO2 unscented mouth tape is priced at $26.95 on its website.
“People are paying more attention to their health and want drug-free, natural options.”
The brand recently entered Revolve, Nordstrom, Erewhon and Harrods. It’s also sold at Goop and Niche Beauty. Before the year is out, VIO2 plans to secure three to five big-box retailers. In addition to its mouth tape, VIO2 sells a 3-pack of tongue scrapers for $12.95. People scrape their tongues to remove bacteria, food particles and dead cells.
“I had no experience taking a product to retail,” says Ip. “But it’s been really fun. What we are really looking for in retail is not just to go everywhere as soon as we can. It’s really to find the people that are willing to work with partners that are a startup, wanting to help us and have the same vision and quality ideas, targeting more premium.”
Although VIO2 was originally developed for the Ips’ son and children were the main target, 70% of its current sales come from women. It’s garnered over 1,000 5-star reviews across platforms, with customers praising it for reducing their snoring, ending “sleep divorces” and boosting their energy from better snoozing. Ip says, “If you open your mouth even just a tiny bit at night, it can significantly alter the depth of your sleep.”
The Ips point out that mouth breathing can cause dry mouth, too, resulting in tooth decay, gum disease, bad breath and cavities. “Mouth breathing may seem harmless, but it can seriously harm your body and long-term health. Unlike nasal breathing, which filters, warms and humidifies air, mouth breathing bypasses these critical functions, leading to reduced oxygen intake and greater exposure to airborne germs,” says Ip. “It also disrupts the natural positioning of the jaw and tongue, especially in children, potentially causing facial changes, misaligned teeth and speech issues.”
Scientific evidence validating mouth tape claims is limited, and more research is essential to understand the effects of mouth taping. Critics of the practice assert it can exacerbate anxiety, sleep issues and breathing difficulties.
In the first year of VIO2, the Ips didn’t sell products. They simply passed out their mouth tape to friends, family and doctors to spread the word. Ip estimates she sent out 200,000 samples as VIO2 was getting off the ground. The brand’s sales grew to a couple hundred units a day, but it wasn’t until Bosstick posted about mouth tape in September 2022 that the Ips understood the level of impact VIO2’s product could have. That day, VIO2 registered $50,000 in sales.
“We were on a trip out of the country when she first posted it on TikTok and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh’,” says Ip. “I had no idea how much the needle could be moved by these creators and influencers.”
After the Bosstick boom, influencers of all sorts contacted VIO2 to try its mouth tape. “Lauryn might have 2 million followers, but there were a bunch of people reaching out with 1 million or 100,000 followers. Because she [Bosstick] had kind of approved it, the floodgates opened.” VIO2 has seen big success—$1 million-plus in sales—due to influencer seeding over the last 12 months.
The brand joined ShopMy as an official partner in May this year. At $5,000 a month for membership, it was a large financial undertaking, but VIO2 has already seen it bear fruit. As a ShopMy partner, it’s getting in front of thousands of content creators.
“Since there needs to be some education about our product, I feel it’s best for people to actually try the product to see what it does for them individually,” says Ip. “Organic growth, spurred by some large creators that truly love the product, has scaled our business 100% this year, and we wouldn’t have been able to do that without joining ShopMy.”
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