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I’m someone who always has a lip balm in their bag for dry lip emergencies. Not that long ago, chapsticks were pretty much the only option for staving off sore lips. Lipsticks and glosses were a whole other category – they looked pretty but didn’t deal with the flakiness! Now, though, we’ve got lip oils, glosses and balms with built-in skincare ingredients to keep your lips soft and moisturised all day.
Like the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balms.
You’ve probably seen these all over TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest. They’re a cult beauty item and are hugely popular, largely due to how cute the packaging is. But, aesthetics aside, do they actually keep your lips hydrated and flake-free?
Let’s find out!
Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm Shades & Flavours
The Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm is currently available in nine permanent shades, and one limited edition shade: Birthday Cake.
- Vanilla – Clear with a vanilla flavour
- Pink Sugar – Sheer pink with a sweet, sugary flavour
- Birthday Cake (LIMITED EDITION) – Light shimmery pink with a birthday cake flavour
- Pink Guava (NEW) – Bright pink with a guava flavour
- Iced Coffee – Sheer cocoa with an iced coffee flavour
- Vanilla Beige – Neutral beige with a vanilla flavour
- Brown Sugar – Rosy brown with a brown sugar flavour
- Cherry – Sheer red with a cherry flavour
- Poppy – Sheer coral with a citrus flavour
- Sweet Mint – Clear with a minty flavour
The two clear shades, Vanilla and Sweet Mint, can be used as on-the-go lip balms (like their tinted counterparts) or you can apply them before bed as an overnight mask.
What’s super interesting to me is the variety of flavours, as well as shades. I love when a brand matches the colour/name of the product to the way it tastes/smells, and Summer Fridays does this so well.
I have Pink Sugar, Vanilla Beige and Birthday Cake which obviously lean more sweet than fruity. In all honesty, they do smell pretty similar, each with an underlying vanilla scent to them – I wouldn’t be able to differentiate them in a line-up. But I imagine if you have Cherry or Sweet Mint, the flavours would be more distinct!
Key ingredients
Summer Fridays’ entire offering is vegan and cruelty-free so naturally their Lip Butter Balm is packed with plant-based ingredients. We’ve got:
- Shea & Murumuru Seed Butters – Rich in antioxidants and fatty acids, these are great at sealing in moisture
- Castor Oil – Moisturises and softens the skin
- Sodium Hyaluronate – The salt form of hyaluronic acid. It’s a humectant which plumps and smooths the skin
- Vegan Waxes – Gives a glossy, emollient (but never greasy) finish
Packaging & application
The Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm comes in a soft, matte-look tube with a white twist-off cap. The bio-resin applicator is curved to fit your lips, helping you dispense just the right amount of product.
Originally this balm came in an aluminium tube, much like their iconic Jet Lag Mask. It had no applicator tip, meaning the product would shoot out all at once. This new packaging is a definite step up because it gives you more control over how much you use!
If I had to make a few tiny critiques, I think I’d like the applicator tip to be a tiny bit smaller – like the Rhode Peptide Lip Tints. It would just make application a little bit cleaner. The current applicator is great but it’s easy to go outside your lips by accident.
It’s also a bit fiddly to squeeze the lip balm out when you start running low. I end up sort of folding the tube in half to get the product out!
Formula, finish & texture
While the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balms are described as lip balms, the fact that they’re so light and spreadable almost makes them feel more like an oil. These glide onto the lips, leaving a finish that’s super glossy and juicy, but not at all waxy or greasy.
In the warm weather, the balm gets even more liquidy and you can see in my swatch of Pink Sugar below that the product starts to act more like an oil the longer it’s on the skin.
Pigmentation & swatches
These are all sheer (or clear) balms so they’re only going to provide a light veil of colour. The brighter shades, like Pink Guava and Cherry, are going to show up more on the lips. But, in general, most of the other shades just add a soft hue which complements your natural lip colour.
You can see from the swatches below (from left to right: Pink Sugar, Vanilla Beige and Birthday Cake) that you need to build up a pretty thick layer to stop your skin peeking through.
Wear Test: How long does it last?
For a tinted lip balm, the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm lasts a surprisingly long time. I can wear it for a couple of hours before needing to reapply, and even after eating my lips still feel moisturised, even if most of the tint has gone.
This layers well, without glooping, so you don’t need to worry about wiping the product off and starting afresh when you want to reapply.
Where to buy the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm
Shoppers in the US, Canada, Germany, France, and the UK can order the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm directly from the brand’s website. Shipping is $16.95 for international orders under $100, and free for those over, so this isn’t the most economical option unless you’re planning on doing a big Summer Fridays haul!
If you’re looking to pick up just this lip balm, you can grab it from retailers like Sephora, Cult Beauty and Space NK. It’s usually about £23 ($24) for 15g of product.
Pros & cons
👍 Pros:
- Nourishing, smooth formula with no grittiness
- Non-sticky finish
- A variety of shades, ranging from neutral to bright
- Easy to apply on the go, thanks to the curved applicator
👎 Cons:
- Applicator may be too big for some
- Not the easiest to apply once the product starts to run low
- Quite expensive for a lip balm
How does it compare to…?
Glossier Balm Dotcom 🍒 – This is thicker and waxier than the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm. It doesn’t spread as easily and feels more occlusive. It has an almost Vaseline-like quality to it.
Naturium Phyto-Glow Lip Balm 🌱 – This is half the price and comes in just as many shades. It’s slightly thicker and a tad more pigmented too.
Rhode Peptide Lip Tint 🎀 – A high shine formula in more neutral shades. This is slightly more pigmented than the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm, but completely unscented. The Peptide Lip Treatments are fragranced though, just FYI.
e.l.f Cosmetics Glow Reviver Melting Lip Balm 🧊 – This is definitely designed to be a dupe, so I’ll probably do a full comparison between the e.l.f and Summer Fridays lip balms at some point. From first impressions, the e.l.f lip balm is much thicker, more pigmented, and more heavily scented.
Final Verdict: Is the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm worth it?
At £23 per tube, the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balms aren’t cheap, so performance has to live up to looks… and in this case I believe it does. Yes, these are Pinterest-worthy, but I don’t think that’s the only reason why this product has become so popular!
The Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm is hydrating, silky and – most importantly – a dream to apply to chapped lips. This doesn’t feel like you’re masking the problem, you can actually feel (after wearing it for a couple of hours) that your lips are softer and less sore.
It’s not the cheapest lip balm out there, but if you’re looking to treat yourself, I highly recommend picking up a shade (or two)!
Have you tried the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm? What’s your lippie of choice at the moment? Let me know down below!
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