I have a special affinity with lip balms. It started with collecting Lip Smackers at six years old, and it’s since grown into a dedicated passion for trying out every new and viral lip balm, butter, oil or gloss I can get my hands on; now more than ever since I started on roaccutane seven months ago (IYKYK). Dry lips are practically my middle name thanks to my acne medication.
One of my favourite lip balms to date has been the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm ($41). Lightweight, non-sticky, long-lasting hydration and just a hint of colour; it’s everything you could ever want in an everyday lip product.
The only downside? The price, especially if you’re reapplying on the regular thanks to lips that are constantly dry and chapped because of medications like accutane.
Enter: Poni Cosmetics.
The Unexpected Summer Fridays Dupe
This beauty brand launched in Australia back in February, and went viral online for being an affordable option, with no products in its range exceeding $25. Naturally, on my weekly supermarket visit, I beelined straight to the beauty aisle, even though I definitely did not have any products on my shopping list. Alas, some of Poni Cosmetics’ products magically wound up in my trolley, and before I knew it, I was taking it home with me.
A few days passed, and when I fished through my makeup drawer to find a random lip balm for the day, I pulled out Poni’s Cloud Whip Lip Butter (a tongue twister if you try saying it out loud). As I swiped it on my lips and did the usual mash-together, as you do, I paused. It felt oddly familiar… and then it clicked.
This was a dupe for the Summer Fridays Lip Butter.
It felt exactly like I was applying the bougie, cult-favourite tinted lip balm on my lips. I wondered if I was late to the party, so did an Instagram and TikTok deep dive to see if people were already talking about it. To my surprise, I didn’t hear a peep, and instead was met with ads for the brand launching in Aus.
So, I did what any boots-on-the-ground journalist would do, and did a side-by-side comparison.
I applied the Summer Fridays Lip Butter in Vanilla Beige to one half of my lips, and the Poni Cosmetics Cloud Whip in Nude to the other, and genuinely couldn’t tell the difference in how both felt and looked.
When I got real up close and personal in the mirror, the Summer Fridays one may have been the tiiiiniest bit more pigmented than the Poni dupe, but I’m talking about a miniscule difference. They’re practically identical.
The Summer Fridays lip balm is on the left side of my lips, and Poni’s is on the right. Can you notice a difference? Because I sure can’t.
While I haven’t personally tried Summer Fridays’ or Poni’s other lip butters, from the looks of things, these are the other shade dupes in Poni’s range:
- Poni Cloud Whip Lip Butter in Clear is a dupe for Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm in Sweet Mint.
- Poni Cloud Whip Lip Butter in Mocha is a dupe for Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm in Brown Sugar.
Poni only has three shades, while Summer Fridays has 11, so I guess which brand you go for depends on how attached you are to your Summer Fridays Lip Butter of choice.
Down To The Nitty Gritty: Comparing The Summer Fridays vs Poni Formula
Dupes are often compared at face value, but I wanted to do some further digging to discover just how identical these two products are.
What’s Similar
Both Poni and Summer Fridays have formulated their lip butters with a hydrating base, with emollients & shine agents to give that balm/gloss-hybrid look and feel. They also both contain waxes, fatty alcohols, texture stabilisers, antioxidants, fragrance and pigments. This explains why they feel identical on the lips — they both have a cushioned, buttery feel to them.
What’s Different
Summer Fridays uses a combination of shea butter, murumuru butter and hyaluronic acid in its Lip Butter Balm, hence the name. And while Poni’s lip balm feels the same, it has an oil base rather than butter, using coconut oil and avocado oil.
Poni’s product also includes the peptide Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, known for its abilities to increase skin moisture. Summer Fridays’, on the other hand, uses sodium hyaluronate — also a hydration booster, just a different ingredient. And while Summer Fridays uses lake dyes, Poni uses iron oxides.
TL;DR: Both products have a similar lip balm/gloss function, but they differ when it comes down to the formula. While Poni has more additives and functional ingredients, Summer Fridays has more of a balm focus.
The Conundrum Of The Dupe: To Splurge Or To Save?
Sure, Summer Fridays and Poni’s lip butters differ in ingredients, but the end result is the same: glossy, hydrated lips. In terms of appearances, Poni’s Cloud Whip Lip Butter is basically identical to the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm. Whether it was an intentional dupe or not, the affordable beauty brand hasn’t said anything.
While I love my Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm, and will probably repurchase it when I feel like treating myself, it’s comforting to know that there’s a far more affordable option out there that delivers the same look and results for a third of the price (not to mention it goes on sale at Woolworths pretty regularly).
To dupe or not to dupe is entirely up to you, but if you’re curious, I suggest you give Poni’s version a whirl. You might just find yourself a new favourite and save $25 in the process.
Image credit: Supplied / Pinterest
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