Summer Fridays Dream Lip Oil Review: Could This Be Your New Favourite Lip Gloss?

It’s official: Lip oils have replaced lip glosses as the best way to give your lips a slick of sheer colour and shine. That’s because they’re way more hydrating and are far less sticky. (Anybody else remember how annoying it was for your hair to stick to your lip gloss on a windy day?!)

Now, Summer Fridays is promising the ultimate lip oil with its new Dream Lip Oil.

The popular skincare brand—which is just starting to venture into colour cosmetics—has released a vegan lip oil that “glides on like a dream” with deep hydration.

Should you try it? Keep reading to find out more and to see what each shade looks like.

What It Is & Who It’s For

Summer Fridays Dream Lip Oil is an oil-based lip gloss (a.k.a. lip oil) that gives you a hydrating, high-shine tint without any stickiness.

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It comes in four pinky-nude shades. Think: “Your lips, only better.”

Consider trying this lip oil if you like glossy (not matte) lips, and sheer (not opaque) colour that lets some of your natural lip tone peek through. 

This product is also worth considering if you’ve found that other lip products have looked or felt too drying.

Packaging & Texture

Like all Summer Fridays products, the packaging of this lip oil is minimalist chic. It comes in a chunky frosted plastic tube with a jumbo doe-foot applicator.

Once you finish it up, the base is recyclable, but not the applicator. If you’re in the US, you can participate in the brand’s recycling program. All you need to do is send back five empty Summer Fridays products and you’ll get a $25 e-gift card to use on the website.

As for the texture? It doesn’t feel greasy like an oil or sticky like a gloss. I’d describe it as “balmy.” Similar to a light lip balm, it’s super-soft and hydrating. 

Ingredients & Benefits

Ingredients: Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Hydrogenated Poly (C6-14 Olefin), Octyldodecanol, Ethylene/Propylene/Styrene Copolymer, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Squalane, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Seed Oil, Cocoyl Hydrolyzed Collagen, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopherol, Siraitia Grosvenorii Fruit Extract, Menthoxypropanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Butylene/Ethylene/Styrene Copolymer, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, May Contain/Peut Contenir (+/-) Iron Oxides (CI 77491), Iron Oxides (CI 77492), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77499), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090).

Here are the key ingredients in Summer Fridays Dream Lip Oil, and what they’re doing in this formula:

• Hydrogenated polyisobutene and hydrogenated poly (C6-14 olefin): These are polymers that are commonly used in lipstick formulations as a substitute for mineral oil.^1,2
• Octyldodecanol: This is a type of fatty alcohol with emollient properties.³
• Ethylene/propylene/styrene copolymer: This polymer helps create gel-like textures in oil-based formulas.⁴
• Castor, rose, shea, avocado, apricot, jojoba, squalane, grapeseed and raspberry oils: These nine plant-based oils act as moisturizing and softening agents.

If you tend to get closed comedones around your lip area, you might want to avoid this lip oil. The following ingredients can be comedogenic:

• Shea oil 
• Avocado oil
• Apricot kernel oil
• Grapeseed oil

Note that this product is vegan, cruelty-free and fragrance-free.

Shades & Swatches

Alright, let’s get into the fun part now—the colours! Here, you can see how each of the four shades compare when swatched on my skin:

Notice how some shades are more sheer than others, and there’s not a big difference between Blush Dreams and Soft Mauve. But more on that in a second!

Here’s how each one looks on my lips:

Pink Cloud

Pink Cloud is described as a sheer soft pink. I find this shade is barely visible on my lips, and deposits the least amount of colour. That’s because my natural lip tone is quite a bit darker than this baby pink, so it just ends up looking like a clear gloss. If you have a lighter lip tone, it might work better for you.

Blush Dreams

Blush Dreams is described as a sheer blush. This one definitely shows up better on my lips than Pink Cloud, as it’s darker, more opaque and buildable. I find this shade looks like a slightly brighter, warmer version of my own lip colour. But even though it has a warm undertone, I think anyone could wear it.

Soft Mauve

Soft Mauve is described as a cool mauve. Compared to Blush Dreams, this one has a cooler undertone. The colour is just a fraction darker—it’s more of a rose—and it’s not as bright on the lips. Even so, the two shades are extremely similar, especially over pigmented lips like mine.

Rosewood Nights

Rosewood Nights is described as a sheer rosy brown. While Blush Dreams and Soft Mauve are more opaque and buildable, this one has a sheerness to it—even though it’s the darkest of the bunch. Rather than looking “brown,” I’m getting berry tones from this. To me, it looks like I’m wearing a gloss over a lip stain (which I love!).

Can you guess which shade is my favourite? I’m going with Rosewood Nights because of its sheer yet stain-like quality. I never would have guessed that the deepest shade would work for me, so I was pleasantly surprised!

What else should you know about Dream Lip Oil?

Well, one important consideration is that it gives your lips a minty tingling sensation—just like a lip plumper. The brand doesn’t mention this anywhere or claim any “plumping” benefits for this product, but I would have appreciated a heads up. Personally, I don’t love how it feels, but it does go away after about 30 minutes, and I don’t notice any irritation. So it’s not a dealbreaker for me.

Another factor to note is the huge applicator. I find it deposits way more product than you need to coat your lips. It’s especially problematic with the two middle shades (Blush Dreams and Soft Mauve), since they’re more opaque. I always end up having to wipe away excess colour from the edges of my lips, so it doesn’t look messy. 

Final Verdict

Here’s what I love about Summer Fridays Dream Lip Oil:

• Wearable neutral shades: In many lip ranges, some of the colours can be polarizing. That’s not the case here—these shades are so neutral, they’d work on all skin tones.
• Hydrating: This lip oil truly feels like a soft, moisturizing lip balm.
• Non-sticky: Unlike the lip glosses we grew up with, there’s no sticky sensation.

But here’s why this lip oil may not be for you:

• Tingling sensation: It goes on with the cooling, tingly feel of a lip plumper (even though it’s non-plumping). 
• Messy to apply: The jumbo applicator has a tendency to deposit excess product.
• Not highly pigmented: The shades are all semi-sheer, so you won’t get opaque, intense colour payoff here.
• May be comedogenic: Some of the oils in the formula could clog pores.

Where to Buy

• Sephora
• Amazon
• Revolve
• Space NK
• Cult Beauty
• Summer Fridays

Sources

1. ^{Hydrogenated Polyisobutene. Cosmetics Info.}
2. ^{Dedraflow® (C6-14). UL Prospector.}
3. ^{Octyldodecanol. Cosmetics Info.}
4. ^{Versagel® ME 1600 T. UL Prospector.}