Music, Skin, and Peace: How One Curious Mind Built Two Worlds of Calm

Two Worlds of Bob Root – Formulator & Composer 🎵

Music, Skin, and Peace — *Bob Root-Keys® & Chilltravelers*

When people ask what I do, I usually say, “I help people feel better in their own skin.”
Most assume I mean that metaphorically.
But in my case, it’s literal—and musical.

I’m Bob Root, the guy behind Keys Natural Skincare and also the composer behind ChillTravelers, a chill music project with twelve albums and a pop single out in the wild.

On one side, I’m formulating chemical‑free skincare; on the other, I’m shaping soundscapes meant to quiet the noise of the day.
To me, they’re not separate lives.

They’re two ways of chasing the same thing: Peace.

From melanoma to melodies

Keys began in a moment of fear and determination.

When Wendy was diagnosed with melanoma, we went looking for products that were truly clean, transparent, and gentle enough for skin already under siege.

We didn’t find what we needed.

So, with my engineering brain and a lot of stubbornness, we started making our own.

Around the same time, another part of my brain was quietly busy.

For decades, I’d heard music in my head that didn’t quite fit existing genres—too thoughtful to be background noise, too calm to be club music.

It sat there, waiting patiently while life happened: companies, labs, hospitals, dogs, road trips, and a small skincare line that accidentally turned into a big part of our purpose.

Keys was born out of necessity.
ChillTravelers was born out of curiosity.
Both, in their own way, came from the same question: “What would it look like if we tried to make people’s lives just a little gentler?”

The same fingerprints on formulas and songs

If you’ve ever wondered whether the same person could design a serum and a song, the answer is yes—and the process is more similar than you might think.

When I’m formulating a skincare product, I start with:

A real problem: eczema, dry hands, sun‑touched skin, a dog with hot spots.
A short list of ingredients I trust.
A promise: no junk, no fillers, no chemicals just because “everyone else uses them.”

When I’m composing for ChillTravelers, I begin the same way:

A real emotion: anxiety that needs softening, a long drive that needs a soundtrack, a mind that needs unclenching.
A small palette of sounds I love.
A promise: no harsh edges, no cheap tricks, no noise just to sound “busy.”

In both cases, I’m chasing the moment when someone says, “I feel calmer now.”
It doesn’t matter if that calm came from a lotion that soothed a rash or a track that turned a frantic morning into something bearable.
The intention is identical.

Music is peace (and sometimes, a side note on the label)

Here’s a confession: when I’m working in the lab, there’s almost always chill music playing.
Sometimes it’s my own. Most of the time, it’s a blend of artists who build worlds with sound instead of shouting for attention.
For me, music is not a distraction from the work; it’s the mood that makes careful work possible.

We talk a lot at Keys about “skin peace”—skin that’s not angry, not itchy, not inflamed.
But peace isn’t just something that happens on the surface.
There’s a quiet magic in washing your face, applying a simple product that doesn’t sting or scare you with the ingredient list, and hearing music in the background that tells your nervous system, “You’re safe for a moment. You can breathe.”

That’s why I think of music as the side note that makes the whole story sing.
You might come to Keys because your skin needs help.
You might stumble onto ChillTravelers because you needed a soundtrack to get through a rough week.
If, somewhere along the line, you realize both came from the same slightly obsessive, endlessly curious person trying to engineer a little more peace into the world—well, that’s when it all clicks for me.

A life made of small, quiet choices

I’ve never been interested in building a “perfect” brand or a chart‑topping music career.
What interests me is impact in the smallest places: the bathroom sink where you finally find something that works, the late‑night drive where a song keeps you company, the dog whose skin finally calms down, the moment your shoulders drop an inch because something in your day stopped fighting you.

The older I get, the more I’m convinced that peace isn’t usually a grand event.
It’s a series of small, quiet choices:

Choosing a product that helps instead of harms.
Choosing music that softens instead of agitates.
Choosing to care enough to keep experimenting until something better exists.

So yes, Bob Root of Keys is the same person as ChillTravelers.
The same hands that weigh botanicals and blend oils also ride faders and shape echoes.
The same engineering brain that refuses unnecessary chemicals refuses unnecessary noise.

If Keys has helped your skin, thank you for trusting us.
If ChillTravelers has ever kept you company, thank you for letting my music into your day.
And if you ever want a soundtrack for your skincare ritual, your dog walk, your drive, or your quiet evening, you’ll know exactly where it came from: the same place as the formulas—one stubborn heart, still trying to build tiny pockets of peace in a noisy world.

Some Album Covers