Following the success of Lip Butter Balm, Summer Fridays is diving even deeper into the lip category this year.
The brand, cofounded by Lauren Ireland and Marianna Hewitt in 2018, will debut Flushed Lip Stain, $22, and SoftLine Lip Liner, $20, at the beginning of February on its website and at Sephora.
Available in eight shades, the lip liners are formulated with hyaluronic filling spheres for a tug-free glide, coconut and jojoba oil blend for lightweight nourishment, and carnauba and candelilla wax blend to help create precise, seamless lines.
The lip stains, meanwhile, come in six shades, and are formulated with aloe vera gel, panthenol and ink dye technology.
“The [Lip Butter Balm] has really taken on a life of its own. There’s so much joy and sensorial and taste and nostalgia that people love from these products from us,” Hewitt said of the brand’s approach to the lip category. “We then started to expand on a full lip combo of something that defines layers and really lasts on your lips. We think about it as this ritual. It wasn’t that it was just a single product, but it really was skin care first.”
Part of the reason for the launches was to address pain points in both Hewitt and Ireland’s makeup routines.
“It either was a liquidy product, and it didn’t come in a lot of shades, or was really difficult to use on the go,” said Hewitt. “Summer Fridays is all about being easy and effortless. To have something in a marker format makes having a stain so much more foolproof, and it’s not drying, so it gives you that long wash of color that you want from your products without all of the difficulties of maybe using lip stains traditionally. Then I love a lip liner, so it’s really fun to create these shades that pair so well with our lip liners.”
The brand will no doubt be hoping to mimic the success of Lip Butter Balm. According to a recent report by Navigo, Lip Butter Balm was the top beauty product by online Sephora sales in 2025.
As for its approach to skin care (Summer Fridays started with one hero product — Jet Lag Mask), that is still top of mind, the brand having recently launched Cloud Dew Gel Cream Moisturizer and Pink Dew Gel Cleanser.
“We are a skin care brand. We’re rooted in skin care, and so skin care will always be a big part of the business for us,” said Hewitt.
In terms of future categories, Ireland added: “There’s always this fun balance between remaining disciplined and skin care being this through line, while also remaining very open and seeing the feedback and what our community is asking for, what we’re seeing around us, and also always having that inspiration. So it’s always kind of that fine balance in terms of our product development and what we dream of creating in the future.”
Still, the top priority for 2026 is continuing to grow lip care, according to the cofounders.
On deepening the brand’s penetration, the focus is on both the U.S. and international.
“In the U.S., we are still exclusive with Sephora, and we’ve had such an amazing partnership with them, and we haven’t had to expand retailers in the U.S. because we’re still growing, and we have such a great, strong partnership with them,” said Hewitt. “Our growth right now is also coming from international. We launched at Sephora Europe earlier last year, and we’re available in all countries in Europe.”
In 2024, Summer Fridays received a strategic growth investment from private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners.
