After a 15-month hiatus in Los Angeles, I moved back to New York City three months ago to a new borough and a new apartment. With me came four suitcases and multiple FedEx and USPS boxes, split between two main categories: shoes and skin care products. Apart from the slight folds, my shoes were totally fine. But after spending four business days in transit, my skin care arsenal had definitely seen better days. The lukewarm day cream that once gave me a great bounce and glow while living in Los Angeles didn’t seem to revive my lack-luster morning skin anymore.
Enter: skin care fridges to resuscitate my beloved products. Working in beauty, I know how popular this trend is. Do a quick glance on Instagram and you’ll see over 25,000 posts on #skincarefridge in cotton-candy pink, sunset orange, and sky blue. Packed with sheet masks, serums, and everything in between, it continues to gain traction as a way to show off your beauty collection. What I wasn’t as sure about was its success rate. So I set to try it out myself and have been stunned at how much better my tried-and-true products have worked over the last seven weeks.
Before utilizing my mini fridge, I stored my products in my makeup bag, bookshelf, drawers, and in my vanity cabinet (as a beauty editor, I test a lot of products so ample storage space is key). But, because of the varying temperatures in my home, the ingredients in skin care products (especially natural ones) can actually break down and oxidize in a makeup bag or drawer - leading to ineffective products and potential skin irritations.
The Purpose and Benefits of a Skincare Fridge
When placed in a miniature skin care fridge, the formulas keep stable so they can last longer, while hindering bacteria, mold, or yeast growth. Some of my products that are formulated with vitamin C and retinol can have unstable molecules and short shelf lives. By refrigerating them, they are able to enjoy a more stable environment and prolong their usage.
The idea behind a skincare fridge is that it helps to keep unstable ingredients like retinol, benzoyl peroxide, and vitamin C (which break down when exposed to light or heat), as cool-and therefore stable-as possible. "Many skincare products benefit from being kept in the fridge," says Clinicbe founder and aesthetic doctor, Dr Barbara Kubicka. "Specifically, natural products and those that contain few preservatives. The cold helps ingredients stay potent for longer-especially antioxidants, growth factors and peptides-as well as extending their shelf life." When a skincare label instructs you to keep your product in a “cool, dark place,” a skincare fridge instantly ticks both boxes.
Its other use is as a dedicated place to cool skincare products. In the same vein as skin icing, keeping serums, eye creams and sheet masks (to name a few), below room temperature can help de-puff, boost circulation and take down redness and inflammation-all while feeling ultra-refreshing on the skin.
Skincare Fridges vs. Kitchen Refrigerators
Technically, yes, you could use your kitchen refrigerator for skincare. However, a skincare fridge does offer some key benefits when compared to a kitchen fridge. For starters, they aren’t quite so cold. Kitchen fridges usually maintain a temperature of around 35-38°F, whereas a skincare fridge is most commonly set at 40-60°F. Why? Although chilling your skincare can be advantageous, you don’t want your products to get too cold. As tempting as it is to place skin care products in your regular fridge, the standard temperature (35-38°F) is too cold for products and could affect their consistency. Skin care fridges cool between 45-50°F - the optimal temperature for beauty formulas.
Cross-contamination is another problem that comes from using your kitchen fridge for your skincare. The last thing that you want is for your skincare products to be anywhere near a fruit or vegetable that has started to turn. Of course, convenience is also a big part of it. Chances are that you don’t carry out your skincare routine in your kitchen. Having to go back and forth between the products in your bedroom to the products in your kitchen can be annoying and time-consuming.
What to Store in a Skincare Fridge
While many are shocked when they first learn that, yes, skincare fridges really are a thing, what initially seems like a kooky gimmick starts to make sense once they learn a little more. Strictly speaking, skincare products don’t need to be refrigerated. While all skincare products can be safely stored at room temperature, it’s difficult to avoid temperature fluctuations. Chances are that your home is warmer during the day and cooler at night. The changing seasons likely affect what room temperature is for you too. From vitamins to antioxidants, these ingredients tend to be highly sensitive, not only to temperature changes but also to light.
One of the knock-on effects of using a skincare fridge to provide stable conditions for your skincare products is that this can help to extend the shelf life of certain products. This can be particularly beneficial when it comes to natural products that don’t contain any (or many) preservatives.
Recommended Products for Refrigeration:
- Antioxidant serums - especially those formulated with Vitamin C and Retinol, as their molecules can be unstable.
- Eye serums and eye creams - to help combat puffiness around the eyes.
- Sheet masks - for an extra soothing and refreshing application.
- Face mists and toners - to enhance their hydrating and soothing effects.
- Water-based moisturizers - where water is the first ingredient.
- Skincare tools - such as jade rollers and gua sha tools.
Products to Avoid Refrigerating:
- Clay-based products, such as clay face masks, should never be refrigerated. Clay hardens in cold temperatures, which will make the mask unusable.
- Oil-based products and balms should also be kept at room temperature. Oil turns thick and clumpy when refrigerated, which would make those products difficult to apply.
- Sunscreen should also never see the inside of a fridge.
How to Choose a Skincare Fridge
Which skincare fridge is right for you depends on a couple of different criteria that are based on where you’ll be putting your fridge and which and how many skincare items you’re planning to store in it. Overall, we can break down how to choose a skincare fridge into three categories: size, temperature, and price point.
Size
Not all skincare fridges are made equally. Some mini-fridges are as big as 15 inches in height and some can be as small as 8 inches. Make sure to measure the dimensions of the space where you’ll be putting your mini-fridge to make sure you have enough room for your new appliance. Also, consider what kinds of skincare items you might want to put in your skincare fridge. How tall are these items and how many are you going to store? These all affect the dimensions of the fridge you end up choosing.
Temperature
Just like with sizes, skincare fridges come in a variety of cooling temperatures as well. The choice of which temperature skincare fridge you want depends on the kinds of items you want to store as well. Fragrances are recommended to be stored at around 60 degrees, for example. Many beauty manufacturers recommend storing beauty products between 45 and 50 degrees to reduce the risk of bacteria and mold growth and to keep active ingredients from degrading.
Price Point
Size can factor into how much a skincare fridge can cost. I have seen beauty fridges cost as much as $200 and as little as $35. Spending $200 is definitely not required when shopping for a skincare fridge and with so many out on the market now, you can pick and choose the skincare fridge that’s right for your budget. There can be features that bump up the price of a skincare fridge. For example, some come with a mirror on the door and some come with built-in Bluetooth speakers. Skincare fridges in different styles, like retro style fridges, can make a difference in price as well.
Other factors to consider include:
- Volume - some skincare fridges are much smaller in volume than others.
- Noise level - this is particularly important if your skincare fridge is going to be living in or near your bedroom.
- Energy efficiency - while some skincare fridges may seem like a bargain, they could end up costing you a fortune in electricity bills. Pay attention to energy efficiency. You may have to pay more for it now, but it could end up saving you in the long run.
The Ultimate Skincare Fridge Guide: Do you need it? + What to put in it
I also love how aesthetically pleasing it is seeing my colorful beauty fridge with all my important everyday items. So, yes, mini skin care fridges are really cute and Instagram-worthy, but they also really work. If you’re ready to invest in one for their long lasting effects on your skin care routine, shop my favorite eight below. We only include products that have been independently selected by TZR's editorial team. Once home to midnight snacks and ice-cold drinks, the mini fridge is gradually being taken over by skin-care products. Being in possession of a dedicated skincare fridge is a craze that shows no signs of abating. Just tap to discover an endless stream of videos featuring proud owners and their chilled #shelfies, laden with temperature-controlled products.
Newby Hands, global beauty director at Net-a-Porter, is just one of the beauty fridge’s biggest fans. “As we know, anything cold helps de-puff and firm up the skin, so using it to store sheet masks, eye creams, some serums and tools, like my Gua Sha and face rollers, makes real sense,” she says. “Using something cool on the skin first thing in the morning and, especially, to revive your face at the end of the day and before going out is wonderful.” Hands and her team at Net-a-Porter noticed an uptick in demand for the devices, not least after a surge in popularity for ice globes, so the e-tailer decided to launch possibly the chicest version on the market. At $160, it comes in the NAP trademark monochrome shades and is as sleek as a fridge gets. “There’s something quite special about having a dedicated mini fridge for your skincare,” says Hands. “Especially when it compactly stores your products and looks this chic.”
So, are they worth it? Well, while they aren’t strictly necessary to keep your skincare effective (skincare products go through a rigorous testing process before hitting the shelves to ensure they work properly, fridge or no fridge), beauty devotees will always get their money’s worth from a skincare fridge. Creams and serums inarguably feel better than ever post-refrigeration. And if it helps remedy even one day of puffiness? This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn commission from qualifying purchases from links on this page.
Skincare fridges are one of those items that when I first saw one, I didn’t understand the point of it. Why do some skincare items need to be refrigerated anyway? Why can’t you just use the refrigerator in the kitchen for that stuff? It seems like it takes up a lot of counter space in the bathroom. What if you have a small bathroom? I had all these doubts about it and for how expensive it is, I was sure I wasn’t going to go get one for myself. Then I was gifted one and I don’t think I can go back?
In practice, I’ve discovered that keeping certain skincare items in the fridge doesn’t increase their potency in any noticeable way, I do find that items applied cold feel a lot more soothing to the skin. Generally, what does work for my skin are ingredients that my skin loves and quality skincare in general.