This balm earns consistent praise for its flavor and scent (vanilla, mint, and orange shades each have devoted fans) and its creamy, cushiony texture that feels moisturizing on contact. However, gurus split sharply on staying power: several found it genuinely hydrating and long-lasting, while others report it slips off quickly and requires frequent reapplication, performing no better than a regular body lotion on lips. A few also noted the fragrance is overpowering or unpleasant, and one spotted unnecessary mica shimmer that doesn't show visibly.
Synthesized from 16 expert reviews · most recent take October 2026
"I finished another Summer Fridays. Again, these are the holiday sets that I like to keep in my bag."
Top Pick: lip balm pigmentation
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"With Summer Fridays lip balm, I understand why it's so popular, it's the scent, it's the taste, it's that it's kind of fun, but I don't ever think I would buy a full size because my Edom lip balm is just that much better. Still, in the Sephora sale I'm going to buy something in the mini size because it's so nice to have an emergency lip balm."
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"Summer Fridays, honestly, I think they have the best pigmentation. They also have really good flavors too. It's a little lightweight for my preferences, but [...] this brown sugar color is so pretty. I feel like the Summer Fridays lip balms are for the makeup enthusiasts looking for lip balm."
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"I finished another Summer Fridays. Again, these are the holiday sets that I like to keep in my bag."
"Summer Fridays is definitely pretty good, worth it. You can try one, but I just don't want to buy any more colors of it. One good point about this one is that it's a little larger than I thought, so it feels more affordable."
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"I like this scent better, [...] and I like that it's curved instead of just cut straight across, which makes it more convenient to use. It works pretty well as a lip balm, they did a good job with this. I'm going with the bigger American size."
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"Summer Fridays is definitely pretty good, worth it. You can try one, but I just don't want to buy any more colors of it. One good point about this one is that it's a little larger than I thought, so it feels more affordable."
"I love the Summer Fridays lip balm, they're all great."
Top Pick: lip balm
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"I like that Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm. I love this stuff. I already have multiple backups and my dad uses this now and my niece is going to get it for Christmas. [...] I love this. This is vanilla, my favorite."
"Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm in brown sugar, I've talked about this in a hundred videos now and I love it."
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"Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm, love love love love love this stuff. I've got it in all these little sample sizes so I've always got one in my purse or wherever I might need it."
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"I absolutely love this stuff, the Summer Fridays Butter Lip Balm, and I have it in the shade vanilla because vanilla I find to be a beneficial ingredient and it goes on clear and it's really wonderful. I apply it every night before bed, and in the morning when I wake up, my lips still feel nice and soft and hydrated and smooth. It just has a light vanilla taste that fades really quickly, but they also have this in several other shades. It's a little bit expensive, however it lasts forever."
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"I love this stuff. This is their Lip Butter Balm. It's 24 bucks. [...] This one is [...] really nice. [...] My preference is the vanilla one. It's clear. It's great for daytime. It gives lips a nice shine. [...] This one gives a lot of shine and gloss. And it is slightly sticky or just sticky. It is tacky, but it's nice enough for the daytime. This one's got Mermaroo butter, shea butter, vanilla, vitamin E, and then the different flavors or colors have different tastes and scents to them."
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"The Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm, this one's 24 bucks. I love this so this is basically for the most part most nights this is what I use for my lip balm. I apply a pretty thick layer of it and I go to bed and for the most part I wake up my lips are still moisturized and hydrated. I still keep a small sample little one on my nightstand but overall this one's really wonderful. I love the vanilla because it's clear and it has vanilla scent to it."
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"I love the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm. I love the vanilla one but I also picked up a set with a couple colors in it. [...] This is the vanilla one which is the one I use at night, and then the Poppy one that [...] I'm wearing right now. I love it. It's got shea butter, cocoa butter, vitamin E, and [...] it's really nice lip balm. It probably sells out very quickly, but if you're in the market for a lip balm this is really nice."
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"It's clear. I'm actually wearing it today. [...] I apply it before I go to bed and I wake up with my lips nice and soft. It's $24, I think this was a gift size and I'm still using it every night. I've been using this every night for months. The full size is even larger, so certainly we'll be repurchasing that. They also have it in different shades and colors. [...] I like the vanilla one because vanilla's a natural, [...] good scent that's not irritating for your skin."
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"Iced coffee it smells like iced coffee as it should I guess"
"I tend to like Summer Fridays a lot. [...] Their lip balm is amazing, love it. I don't know, it's my third or fourth tube and I've given like dozens of them away."
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"My current favorite is the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm."
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"Summer Fridays lip balm is vegan and it's amazing."
"Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm, I love this stuff, it's really good. I've been using this and it's lasting me forever and it's just so good. It smells like vanilla if you get the vanilla scent. It feels nice. It's nice to throw some nice rejuvenating and soothing products in there such as the kombucha and the growth factors and the copper peptides."
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"I love it. It has no taste really. It's got a light vanilla taste. No fragrance ingredients aside from the vanilla, which is actually beneficial for your skin. So, I really love it. It's nice."
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"It's a vegan lip balm, it's super hydrating. They have colors of it, I prefer the vanilla one because it has a slight vanilla taste that dissipates quickly. I put it on at night before I go to bed and my lips still feel nice and soft in the morning."
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"I love the Summer Fridays brand. They've done an amazing job. Their lip balms, I adore them. They're amazing. Although I will say the [Paula's Choice] lip balms, once I got started on this, I kind of like this more because of the peptides and beneficial ingredients, but this one's still really nice and hydrating."
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"For lip products this has become my favorite. This is [...] the vanilla flavor of the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm and it has a light vanilla taste. It dissipates pretty quickly, it doesn't have a lingering like floral taste. They have different flavors though, they have like iced coffee or birthday cake and things like that, so if you like different flavors it's great. And they have different shades of it. This is my favorite, it's clear, it's wonderful."
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"I love this lip balm. Initially the price might look a little pricey, however I've been using this now nightly, once a night, every single night for probably three months now. It's the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm and they have it in different flavors and colors. I like vanilla because vanilla is clear, and vanilla as an ingredient is actually good for you. It might look expensive at first, but this stuff, I bet this tube with daily applying liberally, I bet this will last me six months."
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"Summer Fridays absolutely love my favorite from them now is their lip balm. I have multiples of these now, one I keep here, one in my purse. I got a couple of the sets that have some of the sample sizes so I could try some different colors and things like that. Really impressed with their lip balms."
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"For lip balm, Summer Fridays, love this stuff, love it, love it, love it, can't get enough of it. This is vanilla, which is clear."
"Summer Fridays vanilla lip balm I love this stuff. I've gotten several flavors now, vanilla is still my favorite because it's just clear. It feels nice and nice and hydrated."
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"Summer Fridays lip balm, I got a little set of minis, so these are really nice. I just keep one on my bedside. This was Vanilla. Highly recommend checking out, absolutely love it. This lip balm is really wonderful. I've tested a lot of them."
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"I really enjoy this stuff. They're 28 bucks for the large size. My favorite is just the vanilla, it has no color, it tastes a little bit like vanilla, it doesn't have any mint or anything in there, but they've also got different shades like brown sugar. They're wonderful. I love it. My dad's using it now too and I got them for my nieces. I love this lip balm."
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"I love this stuff. They have some sets now at Sephora for this so check those out because there's some sets where you can get, I think, like three full sizes for a certain amount, or I think they have a mini set too. The flavor I love is vanilla because it's clear. They have some tinted shades too and they have some other ones that look more clear. [...] I just love this stuff. So [...] if you haven't tried this lip balm, it's great. I absolutely adore it."
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"This is probably my fifth or sixth bottle. I've been using this off and on now for a few years. [...] This stuff lasts forever. [...] I have three full-size backups and three mini backups. I got one for my dad, getting one for my niece. I love it. This is the vanilla, they have colors but I'm just more into the vanilla."
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"The Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm has a much better ingredient list in my opinion, [...] better ingredients in there, and it doesn't include the actual fragrancing, it breaks down the fragrance ingredients. If you want the vanilla Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm, you can still get that with just vanilla in it and no added fragrance. [...] The Summer Fridays one is much more expensive, but in my opinion it's a much better formulated product."
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"I really thought I found the best lip balm ever was the Summer Fridays and I still love the Summer Fridays."
"I am thoroughly enjoying the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm, yes, in the vanilla. So vanilla is the one I like. It is so thick and really hydrated and wonderful, and I just love it."
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"I bought their vanilla one first and it has a light vanilla taste but it's super thick and I love this because I put it on at night and when I wake up in the morning my lips still feel soft. [...] They've come out with other colors and flavors and sets. [...] I keep one with my skincare, one in my purse, and one in my car. That's how much I love this lip balm. It's just so good. [...] The color ones are nice [...] but every night I just love the vanilla one."
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"I'm repurchasing the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm. I love it. I'm getting vanilla. They have different colors and flavors. I just love the vanilla, it's wonderful. And if you want something with a little bit of a tint or a little bit of a taste, they've got iced coffee, birthday cake, they've got everything. It's a wonderful lip balm."
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"I love the Summer Fridays lip balm, they're all great."
"I freaking love this Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm. This particular shade is [...] vanilla beige. I've tried others because they've sent me a gazillion of these in PR, and the others don't seem as moisturizing and as nice and thick as this one is. It's shea butter, and it's got vegan waxes in it. It's $24 for 0.5 oz."
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"I actually really love this. This particular scent, flavor, shade, [...] the vanilla beige, is the one for me. I've tried other ones and didn't really love them as much. It runs $24 for 0.5 ounce. [...] What I love about this particular shade is it just has this thickness to it. [...] It feels really cushiony. My lips feel like they're [...] being caressed by moisture."
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"I freaking love this Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm. This particular shade is [...] vanilla beige. I've tried others because they've sent me a gazillion of these in PR, and the others don't seem as moisturizing and as nice and thick as this one is. It's shea butter, and it's got vegan waxes in it. It's $24 for 0.5 oz."
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"Summer Fridays lip balm comes in a bunch of colors. Vanilla, poppy, vanilla beige, [...] brown sugar, pink sugar, cherry, sweet mint, birthday cake. [...] These are really nice. Nice and thick. Lip balms are going to look different on everybody depending on the pigment of your lips, but [...] for me, it's a pay."
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"I already have one of the Summer Fridays Butter Balms, which I love. [...] I have noticed with the Summer Fridays, because I originally bought one that feels thicker than the other ones I've tried since they've been sending me butter lip balms in PR. The one that I have on doesn't feel as thick."
"It's got shea butter, muru muru butter, and vegan waxes. Yes, it's moisturizing and softening, and it gives you a really nice shiny finish if that's what you're after. [...] But compared to alternatives, I feel like you don't have much control. It's shiny or nothing. And looking at the ingredients again, it's just a lot of very basic lip balm stuff. It's not groundbreaking. I [...] find myself reaching for it fairly often and my lips drying out fairly often, too."
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"It's deeply moisturizing, helps repairing the skin barrier. We have murumuru seed butter which is rich in fatty acids, provides hydration as well, sodium hyaluronate, hyaluronic acid essentially. And then it's got mica in to add a subtle shimmer which I found surprising because it doesn't look shimmery, it looks like any old lip balm. So I kind of find the mica unnecessary. It's nice and thick, you could build it up if you want it light or thicker."
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"It's got shea butter, muru muru butter, and vegan waxes. Yes, it's moisturizing and softening, and it gives you a really nice shiny finish if that's what you're after. [...] But compared to alternatives, I feel like you don't have much control. It's shiny or nothing. And looking at the ingredients again, it's just a lot of very basic lip balm stuff. It's not groundbreaking. I [...] find myself reaching for it fairly often and my lips drying out fairly often, too."
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"Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balms are viral because they're nice, they're good, but that's it. [...] They actually don't have a lot to them, and compared to what a lot of K-beauty has to offer with lip products, the Summer Fridays lip balms are incredibly basic."
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"I do not love the Summer Fridays lip balms as much as everybody else does, they are a little bit too sticky for me, so I have to rank them sixth."
"The other lip product is by Summer Fridays, the Lip Butter Balm in shade Poppy. So, this has like an orangey shade to it, but really summery, really fresh looking. I love this color a lot and I love this product because again it is very hydrating. It also has a scent. It smells like oranges and it does give a pop of color to the lips as well. Whether you want to pair this with a lip liner or just wear it on its own."
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"The other lip product is by Summer Fridays, the Lip Butter Balm in shade Poppy. So, this has like an orangey shade to it, but really summery, really fresh looking. I love this color a lot and I love this product because again it is very hydrating. It also has a scent. It smells like oranges and it does give a pop of color to the lips as well. Whether you want to pair this with a lip liner or just wear it on its own."
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"I have this in three shades and I am obsessed. I have pink sugar, I have poppy as well as vanilla beige, and I wear all three of them all the time. I wear poppy and pink sugar the most, and I still wear poppy during the winter months even though it is more of that coral shade. I love it for the winter because it just gives my lips that perfect pop of color during those winter months. I think it looks really beautiful. I will sometimes pair it up with a lip liner or just wear it on its own."
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"I really love their Lip Butter Balm. I have it in the shade poppy but I also have it in a lot of other shades as well. They smell great, they are long lasting, they give that juicy look to the lips, they're moisturizing, and they give that little hint of color which is always nice. So I do like to pair this up with a lip liner sometimes and then sometimes I just wear it on its own."
"This has zero longevity on the lips. [...] It's very similar to if you just got a run-of-the-mill body lotion and put it on your lips, which you can do, but it does not have the longevity on the lips. Lips are of a different makeup skin, so you've got to formulate with lips in mind. I'll notice if you put products that are not meant for the lips on the lips, [...] they just sort of fall right off. That was my experience with this."
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"This has zero longevity on the lips. [...] It's very similar to if you just got a run-of-the-mill body lotion and put it on your lips, which you can do, but it does not have the longevity on the lips. Lips are of a different makeup skin, so you've got to formulate with lips in mind. I'll notice if you put products that are not meant for the lips on the lips, [...] they just sort of fall right off. That was my experience with this."
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"It says on the website it's not greasy that's a straight up lie. [...] Says it's hydrating, another lie. For $ [...] 25 I don't understand why this is so popular. It's not that bad, like I'm being a little dramatic, but for as much hype as it's gotten, I feel like I'm let down."
"A huge disappointment that I was so excited to buy during Black Friday were the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm quad set. These smell terrible, I can't wear them, they just have a terrible fragrance to them, and they're really not all that moisturizing. [...] I was really excited to try these because they were kind of getting a little bit of a viral buzz. I think they were a bit overhyped honestly. I wouldn't repurchase these unfortunately."
"I went through like two bottles of them and I had to keep reaching for it over and over just because it was not hydrating my lips at all. Honestly, if you're going to spend that much on a lip balm, I would recommend the Tatcha Kisu Lip Mask that one is incredible, yes luxurious but it lasts a really long time and gives me way more hydration and moisture than the Summer Fridays one does."
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"I went through like two bottles of them and I had to keep reaching for it over and over just because it was not hydrating my lips at all. Honestly, if you're going to spend that much on a lip balm, I would recommend the Tatcha Kisu Lip Mask that one is incredible, yes luxurious but it lasts a really long time and gives me way more hydration and moisture than the Summer Fridays one does."
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"I really wanted to be obsessed with this one but I'm going to be honest guys this did like nothing for my lips moisture. I got so frustrated with using this product because I had to reapply it like five times a day and I had such high hopes because I love the founders I love the philosophy of the brand but off of experience alone I would put it in crusty dusty. But it's a pretty product and it does make your lips look nice, you know, for ten minutes that it lasts."
"I love the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balms, these are so beautiful. I personally use the vanilla one the most, and I throw it on the most when I do my skincare in the morning or evening. [...] They did recently send me the Mint one, which is actually more pleasant than I was expecting. I usually don't like mint stuff on my lips because I feel like it dries out my lips, but they did a really good job with the Mint one at keeping it fresh and not overpowering."
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"I love the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balms, these are so beautiful. I personally use the vanilla one the most, and I throw it on the most when I do my skincare in the morning or evening. [...] They did recently send me the Mint one, which is actually more pleasant than I was expecting. I usually don't like mint stuff on my lips because I feel like it dries out my lips, but they did a really good job with the Mint one at keeping it fresh and not overpowering."
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"I'm wearing that so it's the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm in Cherry with the Anastasia lip liner in deep taupe."
"Summer Fridays has a little lip product that retails for 24 dollars with shea butter, murumuru seed butters, as well as vegan waxes to help soften and boost shine all day on your lips. This is Summer Friday's lip balm. It's a nice time to try it out. I know people are obsessed with Laneige's lip balm for whatever reason, but it's never done it for me. It just never done it. This one is actually quite nice."
"One is the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balms. Yes, you could buy the individuals, but they for the first time I think are having like a mini kit with four of their top shades and this is what I'm telling you to get if not for yourself for a gift. They will almost certainly sell out around the holidays and you get like four of them for I think like 25 bucks and then plus whatever sale you're going to get on top of that. So I think this is like amazing to pick up maybe even in bulk for gifts."
"One is the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balms. Yes, you could buy the individuals, but they for the first time I think are having like a mini kit with four of their top shades and this is what I'm telling you to get if not for yourself for a gift. They will almost certainly sell out around the holidays and you get like four of them for I think like 25 bucks and then plus whatever sale you're going to get on top of that. So I think this is like amazing to pick up maybe even in bulk for gifts."
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"I've been a fan of the Summer Fridays lip butter balms for so long and I just think there's something so fun about getting a set of something. It lets you try multiple shades or flavors or colors within a product category and then you kind of know going forward if you want to repurchase that, like which one is sort of your perfect match. I think it makes it easy to give as a gift too because you don't have to worry about picking out the perfect shade for someone."
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"I'm going in with Summer Fridays Lip Butter Bomb in Beige Vanilla. This is one of my favorite lip products because it feels like it nourishes the lips but it also adds like a nice youthful glossy sheen. I [...] also love the shape of this lip, it's like slightly curved so it perfectly molds to your lip shape."
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"I actually wear the vanilla beige color pretty much every single day it just goes so beautifully over the top of any lipstick that I'm already wearing or if I have nothing on my lips it just gives a little bit of color."
What the evidence says.
Independent of what the gurus think, this is what
the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.
Humectants and emollients
Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.
Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and it is often in a formula to keep the other ingredients stable rather than as the active itself. It pairs well with vitamin C, though on its own the evidence for visible change is limited.
A creamy lip balm with shea butter and murumuru seed butter, designed to hydrate and add shine to lips.
Is Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm worth it?
The gurus are split. 11 of the 16 gurus give it their stamp of approval while 4 would skip it, which lands it in the middle at a Guru Score of 71%.
What is Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm's Guru Score?
Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm holds a Guru Score of 71%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 16 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.
Cheaper alternatives the gurus rate.
Lower-priced lip products the gurus still rate highly, versus this mid-range pick.
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