Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment Dupes: The Ones That Copy the Peptide, Not Just the Gloss

This is the one to buy if you care about the actives, not just the slip. MCoBeauty's list carries Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 (the exact peptide Rhode markets) plus the diisostearyl malate and hydrogenated-polyisobutene base that gives both balms their glassy cushion. SkinSort's side-by-side logs 13 shared ingredients and flags matching AHA, peptide and Vitamin E, so this isn't an overlap on plain shea butter that half the lip aisle shares.

The economics are the real story. At $8.99 for 0.52 oz (Target), it works out to roughly $17.29 an ounce against Rhode's $66.67 for a 10 mL tube. You get more product and the same headline chemistry for under half the sticker.

Where it diverges: MCoBeauty leads on Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2 rather than Rhode's hydrogenated polyisobutene, and it folds in hyaluronic acid Rhode skips, so the texture reads a touch lighter and less gloss-thick. Every shade is flavoured, so there's no fragrance-free equivalent to Rhode's unscented glaze. Availability is the other catch — reliable at Target, Amazon and Superdrug (£8, often discounted to £6), thin elsewhere. If you can find it, it's the closest thing to Rhode's formula at a drugstore price.

For $7 this is the most Rhode-like label at the lowest price I found. Beauty Creations' Lip Treatment & Tint lists both of Rhode's treatment hooks (Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 and lactic acid) plus eleven more shared names: shea butter, diisostearyl malate, polyglyceryl-2 triisostearate, tribehenin, ethylhexyl palmitate, sorbitan isostearate, microcrystalline and synthetic waxes, octyldodecanol and tocopherol. That's the same peptide-and-exfoliant story Rhode tells, at 12 mL for $7, roughly $17 an ounce against Rhode's $67. SkinSort scores it a 68% match.

What Rhode has that this doesn't: the tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate (a stable vitamin C) and the vitamin E acetate, so you lose the brightening and antioxidant layer. Beauty Creations also adds Parfum, squalane, and raspberry and chia seed oils that Rhode's unscented version skips — a plus if you like a scent, a drawback if fragrance bothers your lips.

Every shade carries a sheer tint and a fruit scent, so there's no clear, fragrance-free option. Distribution is the practical hurdle: it's on the Beauty Creations site and smaller stockists rather than a big-box store. If price is the deciding factor and you want the real actives rather than a lookalike gloss, this is the value pick on the page.

Reach for this if how the balm feels matters more to you than the peptide claim. Summer Fridays shares ten of Rhode's base ingredients (the full occlusive-emollient spine of diisostearyl malate, hydrogenated polyisobutene, polybutene, shea butter, the waxes and octyldodecanol), which is why both give a thick, glassy cushion rather than a waxy drag. SkinSort's community ranks it Rhode's most-liked lookalike at 65%, and editorial head-to-heads (CNN Underscored ran one) tend to call Rhode the runnier, glossier of the two and Summer Fridays the richer, more coating one.

The honest catch is that this isn't a saving or a treatment. At $24 for 0.5 oz it costs more per tube than Rhode's $20, though the larger size makes it cheaper per ounce ($48 vs $67). More important, it drops all three of Rhode's actives: no Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, no lactic acid, no vitamin C ester. It adds sodium hyaluronate and murumuru butter instead, so it's a comfort-and-colour balm, not a lip treatment.

Buy it because you want the cushiony finish and the shade range, not because you're copying Rhode's chemistry — and know you're paying slightly more to do it. UK: £23 at Cult Beauty.

The rock-bottom option, with the biggest honesty caveat. At $5 the Squeeze Me balm leans on shea butter, hyaluronic acid and goji — a hydration story, not Rhode's treatment one. There's no Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, no lactic acid and no vitamin C ester, and the base is a light gel-balm rather than Rhode's heavier polyisobutene cushion, so it feels softer and less glassy on the lip.

It's most often called a Laneige or Summer Fridays dupe rather than a Rhode one, and that's the right framing. What you get for the money is genuine comfort: it's cushiony, sheer and pleasant, and at 0.21 oz for $5 it's the cheapest way to soft lips on this list.

Buy it if "my lips feel nice" is the whole goal. If you specifically want the peptide-and-AHA treatment Rhode is selling, skip it and spend the extra few dollars on MCoBeauty or Beauty Creations, which actually put those ingredients on the label.

Include this one with an asterisk. SkinSort ranks Balm Amour as Rhode's single closest ingredient match (67%), and it's the other serious peptide lip treatment in the category, built around a lip-repair tripeptide plus cocoa butter and a plant collagen-booster. On concept and ingredient family, it's the nearest thing to Rhode on this page.

The problem for a dupe list is the price. It's $26 at Sephora for 0.33 oz / 10 mL, more than Rhode's $20 and, per ounce, nearly $79 against Rhode's $67. So it isn't a saving — it's a lateral move for someone who prefers Violette's tint range, the cooling ceramic tip, or the brand itself.

It's tinted only, so there's no clear-glaze version, and the marketed actives are its own (cocoa butter, lupin) rather than a carbon copy of Rhode's babassu-and-cupuacu blend. Pick it if you want a peptide treatment you like more than Rhode, not if the goal is spending less.