The Tinted Lip Balm That Made Me Stop Caring About Lipstick for Six Months Straight

There’s a very specific kind of product fatigue that sets in when something goes viral too hard.

You see it everywhere. Every beauty account, every morning routine video, every “what’s in my bag” reel. And instead of making you want it, the oversaturation makes you dig your heels in. I know this about myself. I resisted the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm for almost a full year for exactly this reason. It felt like a product that existed primarily to be photographed — that pretty tube with the minimalist label, that satisfying swipe on perfectly lit lips. Beautiful. Definitely bought by people who buy things to photograph them.

I was being uncharitable. I know that now.

My friend left her tube in Brown Sugar at my place one weekend and I used it absentmindedly while we were getting ready and then just… kept thinking about it for the next three days. There’s no more embarrassing way to become a convert to something than accidentally borrowing someone else’s product and immediately needing your own. I bought one the following week. And then another shade two weeks after that. I currently have three tubes in rotation and I’m not going to pretend that’s normal, but here we are.

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The texture is where this tinted lip balm earns everything. It goes on like actual butter — not sticky, not waxy, not that slightly artificial slip that some balms have. It melts into your lips the second it touches them. The name is not misleading. I’ve used a lot of balms that describe themselves as buttery and feel like a slightly moisturized crayon. This one is genuinely different. There’s a richness to it that you feel immediately, and your lips look plumper and softer within about thirty seconds of application without any kind of tingle or irritation.

The formula has shea butter, murumuru seed butter, and vegan waxes — it’s built around real moisture delivery rather than just surface slip. The difference is how long it lasts. Most tinted lip balms fade quickly and leave your lips drier than before if you’re not careful. The Summer Fridays one maintains hydration for three to four hours, which for a balm is genuinely impressive. I have naturally dry lips that crack in cold weather and I’ve been wearing this every single day for months and the condition of my lips has actually improved. That’s not something I say lightly.

The tint situation — because I want to be accurate here — is sheer. Genuinely sheer. If you’re expecting significant color payoff from the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm, you will be slightly disappointed. What you get is more like your lips having a better day. A wash of color that enhances what’s already there rather than covering it. Brown Sugar, which is my daily shade, reads as this warm rosy-brown that makes my natural lip color look intentional and alive rather than washed out. It’s the kind of color that people notice but can’t quite identify. They just think your lips look good. Which is the entire point.

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Let me tell you about the shades because the range has expanded and it matters.

Vanilla Beige is the most universally flattering — barely-there, luminous, looks like your lips but dewier. Pink Sugar is the sweet one, slightly more pink, great if you have naturally fair lips that tend to disappear in a no-makeup look. Brown Sugar is the one I keep going back to because it adds warmth without committing to anything bold. Cherry is the one for when I actually want to feel like I tried — it’s still sheer but it’s noticeably pink and it photographs incredibly well. Poppy is surprisingly wearable for a coral shade. Iced Coffee is the one for deep lip tones where you want something that balances warmth rather than clashing with it.

The scents match the names, which is either genius or overwhelming depending on your relationship with scented lip products. Brown Sugar smells exactly like baking something. Vanilla Beige is soft and clean. Pink Sugar is sweet in that way that makes you want to reapply just to smell it again. They all fade within a few minutes of application, so if you’re sensitive to fragrance it’s not a dealbreaker — you get the nice moment of it while applying and then it settles into nothing.

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Here’s my genuinely honest take on the price: $24 for a lip balm is a lot. I know that. It’s not something I’d tell someone on a tight budget to prioritize. There are good tinted balms at a lower price point and some of them are actually decent. But the Summer Fridays formula is doing something that the cheaper versions aren’t quite replicating — the texture, the lasting hydration, the way it doesn’t sit on top of your lips but actually absorbs and feeds them. The experience of using it is noticeably better. And I’ve gone through the math: I reapply twice a day, a tube lasts me about six weeks. That’s roughly $4 a week for a lip product that I genuinely look forward to using. I’ve spent worse.

There’s also something to be said for the role this kind of product plays in a makeup routine culturally right now. We’re in a moment where the “no makeup makeup” look has shifted from a trend into a permanent philosophy for a lot of people. The goal isn’t to look like you did nothing — it’s to look like you did exactly the right amount. A tinted lip balm is perfect for that. It bridges the gap between bare lips and an actual lip product in a way that nothing else quite does. Not gloss, not tinted moisturizer, not clear balm. The Lip Butter Balm specifically nails that register. It looks like you just have great lips.

I’ve lent this to people who asked what I was wearing and every single one of them bought it within the week. My mom, who has never once been interested in anything I talk about in terms of beauty, tried it at Christmas and texted me in January to ask where to buy it. That felt like a genuine endorsement from someone who has no reason to be impressed by anything.

Bought all three myself. No gifting, no partnership — just someone who spent a year being wrong about something and is now making up for lost time.