• I compared Summer Fridays' lip butter balm to its supposed dupe from Trader Joe's.
• Trader Joe's package came with almost twice the product for less than half the price.
• They were so similar that I'd rather save money by getting the Trader Joe's balm.

Summer Fridays is perhaps best known for its viral lip butter balm. The non-sticky formula has been praised in beauty publications and on TikTok since 2020, and it's supposed to leave a glassy, glossy look.

Unfortunately, it costs $24 a tube, which is a little too much for me to regularly spend on lip balm.

Luckily, as a professional makeup artist, I have found plenty of so-called dupes on the market that use similar ingredients and formulas but cost less. One that recently caught my eye is Trader Joe's two-flavor pack of lip butter balm for $7.

To see how similar the products really are, I bought both and put them to the test.

Owning a balm from Summer Fridays made me feel fancy.

To pick up my Summer Fridays balm, I headed to Sephora.

There's something luxurious about purchasing skincare and makeup products at high-end retailers, and I enjoyed perusing the varieties of balms on the shelf.

The brand's lip butter balm comes in eight shades/scents: vanilla, sweet mint, pink sugar, iced coffee, vanilla beige, brown sugar, cherry, and poppy.

I went with sweet mint, mostly because it sounded similar to a variety Trader Joe's offers. It also seemed to be the most neutral shade of the bunch, so I thought it would make for a good, fair comparison.

I paid $24 for a 0.5-ounce tube.

Trader Joe's, however, gave me a better deal right off the bat.

As a grocery store, Trader Joe's was a less luxurious, more hectic environment.

However, these lip balms were super convenient to buy since I was already there buying groceries.

I paid $7 for 1.04 ounces of product in two varieties (each 0.5 ounces): vanilla mint and brown sugar.

Far and away, Trader Joe's has the better deal on balm. When broken down, Summer Friday's balm costs $48 an ounce, and Trader Joe's is about $6.73 an ounce.

The packaging looked similar.

Both balms came in matte, mint-green squeeze tubes, which I found aesthetically pleasing.

However, Summer Fridays' packaging is slightly thinner, creating a longer tube, and has a contrasting white cap.

Despite the subtle size difference, they both fit easily into small pockets, which is a high priority for me when it comes to lip balms.

They both smelled the same to me.

The minty balms from Trader Joe's and Summer Fridays smelled very similar to me. In fact, I couldn't tell them apart in a blind smell test.

For both products, I liked the added kick of sweetness to mellow out the tingly mint sensation.

Even the core ingredients are the same.

When I glanced at the back of each box, I didn't notice much variance in the balms' formulas. This is especially true for the first-listed ingredients, which typically make up the largest part of a product's makeup.

When I asked dermatologist Toral Vaidya about the formulas, she said that some of the shared ingredients — shea butter, tocopherol (vitamin E), and sodium hyaluronate — make both products similarly effective for hydration.

"Shea butter is a moisturizing agent rich in fatty acids that helps nourish the lips, and vitamin E is an antioxidant that has skin-protecting qualities and also helps the skin retain moisture," she told BI. "Sodium hyaluronate is a humectant and skin-conditioning agent that helps hydrate the lips."

Both tubes had a smooth application.

I was able to smoothly apply Summer Fridays and Trader Joe's balms on my bare lips and on top of other products for a glossy finish.

The applicators on both tubes had similar divots that seemed to form the shape of my lips as I used them, which I loved.

The only difference I noticed was that Summer Fridays' formula felt slightly thicker.

The products are both great, but I'd rather save my money and get the dupe.

I used each balm for a total of three days, leaving some time between for the fairest comparison.

My lips felt similarly hydrated the entire time, and both products showed noticeable improvement in healing my chapped lips.

I found myself applying the Summer Fridays formula less frequently than Trader Joe's balm, but that could've been due to the difference in my schedule those weeks. I was out and about in the cold more while testing the latter.

I completely understand why people rave about Summer Fridays' balm, especially if they've found a signature shade or scent they can't part with. However, when it comes to the basic clear formula, I really couldn't tell the difference between the products.

I'd rather save some money and repurchase the two-pack dupe from Trader Joe's.

• Some Republicans have urged Trump and his nominees to kill the IRS's free direct tax-filing tool.
• Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons are urging them to keep it.
• They also argued that the program fits the bill of one of DOGE's reported goals.

As some Republicans urge President-Elect Donald Trump to kill the IRS's free direct tax-filing tool, Democrats are attempting to preserve it.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent and IRS Commissioner nominee Billy Long, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Coons of Delaware touted what they see as the benefits of the program.

"Direct File is making the process of interacting with the government more efficient, a goal we all can agree on," Warren and Coons wrote in a letter exclusively provided to Business Insider. Twenty-two other senators and 113 House members, all Democrats, also signed on.

The duo also made the case that the program "fits the bill" of a program that's reportedly being explored by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's "Department of Government Efficiency:" a mobile app to allow Americans to file their taxes directly to the IRS for free.

"The Direct File pilot program has proved that it is efficient, cost effective, user friendly, and secure — a pilot program that already meets the DOGE leaders' goals," the senators wrote. "As Mr. Musk and Ms. Ramaswamy have said, Americans deserve a simple and
free way to meet their tax obligations online."

The program, which was enabled by the 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, first launched in 12 states last year and is set to expand to 13 more states this year. More than 140,000 have filed their federal tax returns via the program, according to the IRS.

The direct-file tool is designed to make filing taxes easier and simpler. Historically, many Americans have had to spend significant amounts of time on tax preparation or pay money to private services like TurboTax.

"Most Americans have simple tax returns, yet filing is still arduous and frustrating," the senators wrote. "The complexity of the tax code makes it difficult for average Americans to ensure they get it right, while also protecting their sensitive financial and personal data."

In December, 29 House Republicans sent a letter to Trump urging him to kill the program via executive order as soon as Day One of his presidency. They cast the tool as an example of the "weaponization of government," arguing that it gave too much power to the IRS.

It's not clear how the incoming Trump administration will approach the program, and the Trump-Vance transition did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

• A man from Vancouver caught people's attention because they thought he was RedNote's CEO.
• Jerry welcomed new users who had been flocking to the app ahead of a potential TikTok ban.
• People got a bit carried away, and it became a viral case of mistaken identity.

Americans flocking to the Chinese app RedNote thought the platform's CEO had left them an encouraging message.

Turns out, he wasn't the CEO. He's just a guy from Vancouver.

Jerry, who shares a RedNote account with his girlfriend Dani that has about 31,000 followers, posted a video on January 13.

In the video he welcomed US users who had been signing up ahead of a possible ban on TikTok. He said the app, also known as Xiaohongshum, was mainly Chinese-speaking, and it was a place people mainly used for finding restaurants and sharing lifestyle content such as makeup videos.

"But do feel free to speak English and post English content because I believe there are a lot more English-speaking people on this platform nowadays," Jerry said. "We need to build this community."

Mistaken identity

For reasons that aren't entirely clear, some users assumed Jerry was RedNote's CEO.

His video got reposted on TikTok, and the rumor quickly spread around the platform. People thanked him for welcoming them with open arms while the potential TikTok ban loomed.

Jerry's video was also mentioned at the end of a Fox 5 New York news segment about the ban threat.

"The CEO of RedNote even made a video welcoming new users who speak English to the app, and he also encouraged them to never stop sharing their voice," said Jennifer Williams, a sports reporter for FOX 5 News.

On Tuesday, Jerry and Dani, on their TikTok account FakeCEORealGF, tried to clear up the confusion. In the video, Dani showed Jerry what had happened, and he responded with disbelief.

"Guys, I'm not the RedNote CEO, just to be clear," Jerry said.

"I'm just another normal guy in Vancouver," he added. "I didn't expect this post to go viral like this, and thank you for all the comments, but I want to clarify that I'm not the CEO of RedNote."

Jerry said all the points he made were still true, and he hoped new users enjoyed the platform.

Dani, who is Chinese and grew up in North America, and Jerry, who was born in Shanghai and moved to Canada a decade ago, said they had enjoyed watching Chinese and American cultures merge on RedNote.

"Guys, I hope you guys aren't mad at us," Dani said. "We're really sorry for any misunderstandings this caused."

TikTokers who made the error joked in the comments that Jerry had been promoted.

"We married the first guy to be nice to us," one viewer wrote. Another said: "He said 'welcome' and we said 'THE CEO?!?!'"

Others remarked on Jerry's American accent, remarking, "We have to start using critical thinking skills."

Jerry and Dani and Fox 5 New York did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

TikTok faces a January 19 deadline to comply with a divest-or-ban law requiring its US operations to be sold. It remains unclear what the ramifications of the bill could be.

Creators have been highly critical of the ban, saying their small businesses and livelihoods will be destroyed. Black creators, who were instrumental in the platform's growth, could be significantly affected.

Element of trolling

In response, TikTok users have been considering their options and downloading alternative apps, including Lemon8 and RedNote. Both have rapidly climbed the app download charts in recent days.

The influx to RedNote has been helping some of its users learn English, BI reported this week.

There's also an element of trolling going on. Frustrated about losing a valuable resource for their income and ability to mobilize, TikTokers are leaning into downloading other Chinese apps to send a message.

A major criticism of the potential TikTok ban is that it is hypocritical. Many claim it focuses heavily on one app while leaving alone other tech companies such as Meta, which owns Instagram.

• I stayed in a cylindrical tiny home hotel in Germany during a European train trip in 2022.
• The 106-square-foot home made smarter use of space than any tiny home I've seen in the US.
• The European tiny home was two stories and less than half the size of the US tiny homes I've booked.

I love how tiny homes creatively use small spaces. Living in NYC for the last six years, I've rented some cramped apartments.

So, I often book tiny home accommodations when I travel to get some ideas for space-saving hacks I could implement in my own dwelling.

From Florida and Maryland to Canada and Switzerland, I've stayed in several tiny Airbnbs around the world.

But none of those homes used indoor space as smartly as this tiny home hotel in Germany, which I found on Airbnb back in 2022.

I was looking for tiny stays in Germany when I found one with a unique, cylindrical shape that packed a lot inside, so I booked it for two nights for $140.

The Airbnb was part of a tiny home hotel in Neustrelitz, Germany, called Slube. The company designs minimal concrete "Slubes" for up to two people.

There are three types of Slubes: Basic, which is one story; Home, which is two stories; and Tower, which adds a rooftop terrace. I booked a Home Slube.

It was less than half the size of any tiny home I'd stayed in before.

At 16 feet tall, the tiny home with two floors was 106 square feet.

I checked in with a code sent to my phone rather than a physical key.

When I arrived by train from the airport in Berlin, I didn't see any employees on the property.

I was confused at first, but then I checked my email. I had a message from Slube informing me I'd be staying in room five and could check in by myself.

Inside, the 53-square-foot bottom level had a bathroom on the right, a sitting area on the left, and a ladder to the second floor.

The sitting area had a foldout table. When I wasn't using it, I could push it into the wall to save space.

Across from a foldout table was a bench with two seat cushions instead of a couch.

Beneath the benches, there was enough space for me to store luggage.

This tiny home utilized more vertical space than those I've seen in the US.

There were hooks and storage cubbies above the bench, so I stored all of my clothing and toiletries on the first floor.

I was impressed by the amenities packed into such a small room.

In the back right corner of the sitting area, there was a nook of built-in shelves storing a small coffee machine, a hair dryer, and a few dishes.

The bathroom felt efficiently designed.

There was a curtain separating the shower head and sink from the toilet and storage space.

Even with two windows, I felt I had enough privacy.

The first-floor windows had a film over most of the glass, which allowed me to let natural light in without sacrificing my privacy.

After checking out the first level, I headed up the ladder to the bedroom.

I thought it was easy to climb but could be challenging for some.

There was a latched gate at the top of the ladder, which I imagine was built to keep people safe from falling.

Knowing I was securely fastened into the bed area made falling sleeping easier.

The bedroom was the same size as the living space and bathroom combined — 53 square feet.

A comfy, full-size bed covered the floor space. The pillows had the ideal ratio of fluff to firmness for my neck and head.

Above the bed, a TV equipped with Netflix and other streaming services was mounted on the wall.

Before bed, I watched some of my favorite shows.

On the far side of the bed, I used the lower platform as a nightstand.

It had easily accessible outlets, a pocket for the TV remote, and more space for my electronics and water bottle.

Above the bed, a large window opened so I could let the breeze into my room.

It had a black-out curtain for privacy and early morning light.

The Slube also had smart electricity that made my stay feel a little luxurious.

I controlled the lights and temperature of each story from my phone.

I found it fascinating that this tiny home truly left no space unused, from the loft bed to the wall cubbies.

While I can't stick a second story into my own rental, the European tiny home still gave me inspiration for how I could make better use of my space, starting with vertical storage hacks.