Yes, you read that right—a skincare fridge.
Every one of us probably has at least one fridge in the house. Fridges keep our food cool, frozen, and fresh and help them last a long time. The items you can keep in your fridge are endless, from fresh vegetables and fruits to meat and seafood products. Throw in your favorite juices and eggs and even your leftover food from last night.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, refrigerating food helps slow down grow bacteria growth in our food which thrives in food, moisture, and favorable temperatures.
As bacteria exist in soil, air, water, and the food we eat, the rapid growth of bacteria can cause illnesses. Keeping food refrigerated to at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit and below will help protect most food from bacteria growth for a certain period.
This same concept applies to why most beauty geeks need at least one skincare fridge in their possession.
What is a Skincare Fridge and What Does it Do?
Why use a skincare fridge? The answer is simple– to prolong the shelflife of our beloved beauty products, albeit for a while.
Skincare fridges are usually way smaller than our regular refrigerators since they only hold skincare. Not all skincare needs to be refrigerated, and you need to assess which ones need to be thrown into the pit of coolness.
You need to remember, though, that keeping skincare in the fridge does not make them more effective.
Do you really need to put skincare in the fridge? No. Does it make it more effective? No.
Cosmetic and skincare companies conduct researches and tests to see how much humidity, temperature, and UV light a product can withstand before it gets bad. Because it has already undergone these tests, this proves that products sold non-refrigerated can thrive without a skincare fridge, and they are safe in most neutral conditions.
If they are not, they are indicated in the packaging whether a product needs to be stored at a specific temperature or needs to be put away from excessive heat and direct sunlight.
While cooling skincare products do not guarantee significant change, it does have its benefits. Cooling skincare products like sheet masks, eye creams, face mists, jade rollers, or products with high amounts of Vitamin C can benefit from getting refrigerated.
At best, cooled skincare products constrict our blood vessels and promote tighter and firmer skin, resulting in fewer under-eye bags or reducing puffiness.
Cooling products also feel much, much better than non-cooled ones. Many people, including us, choose to store specifically our sheet masks on the fridge because cold sheet masks feel much more relaxing when applied to the face after a long day. The science behind it? Our comfort.
If you don’t feel like purchasing an extra mini fridge for your skincare, that’s fine too. You can always just put them in your regular fridge. However, a separate skincare fridge makes sure that your beauty products are safe from the pungent odor that may contaminate your skin products.
Does Refrigerating Skincare Prolong Its Shelf Life?
Does it slightly prolong the shelf life of your products? Yes– or maybe?
There’s been no science so far on how refrigerating skincare can extend shelflife, but products with natural and organic products should work the same way as it does when we refrigerate food.
Remember, though, to always read product descriptions before anything else to make sure there are no specific terms against refrigerating your skincare or storing them on particular temperature ranges.
What Should You Keep in a Skincare Fridge?
Skincare fridges do not only benefit our products, but they look cute and preppy as well. Skincare fridges come in a variety of colors, shape, sizes and look– some looking like an actual fridge, retro style, others look like baggage.
Some even include Bluetooth speakers, glass doors, lighting, has removable shelves, stickers (!!), and many more.
With the rise of popularity of skincare fridges, many companies have fought tooth and nail to produce the most efficient, best valued, and best-looking skincare fridges out there.
They come in various shapes and sizes, but they are generally ‘mini’ in nature, so that you might wonder: what can I really put in a skincare fridge?
Let’s run that down below.
Sheet Masks
Ah, the ever-popular sheet masks. If there’s something someone should first remember to go into that skincare fridge, it would always be the sheet masks.
Anyone who doesn’t put a sheet mask in any kind of fridge, or cools it down before using, doesn’t know how to use it well. Cooling a sheet mask gives an extra relaxing sensation after a long day, and that sticky, relaxed feeling on your face is the perfect way to end the day.
Plus, sheet masks always have the extra (lots!) of essences left on the packaging after getting out the mask itself, so you can always use it after using your mask or put it back in the fridge and use them for the following day or night.
Facial Tools
Remember that beauty hack to put a stainless spoon in the fridge or the freezer and then put it in your eyes when you have puffy eyes? This works the same on other facial tools as well.
Jade roller, face massagers, and other facial rollers benefit from being cooled down in a skincare fridge. Applying these face massagers onto the skin after being cooled down helps in de-puffing and blood circulation.
Vitamin C Products
Products with Vitamin C should generally be cleared away from places where they are exposed to sunlight.
Since Vitamin C is an active ingredient, storing them in cooler places helps prevent them from oxidizing and breaking down. Before you reap the incredible benefits of Vitamin C, like skin discoloration cure and boosting collagen production to improve wrinkles, make sure to store them and keep them safe on your skincare fridge.
Eye and Facial Serums
Why use a skincare fridge for eye and facial serums? Like Vitamin C, eye and facial serums are also mainly composed of active ingredients like retinol. As these ingredients are very sensitive, keeping them in the skincare fridge will benefit them in the long run.
Eye Creams
Like how we put cooled spoon on our eyes when puffy, putting eye creams on a skincare fridge helps in reducing puffiness and dark circles. As the skin around our eyes is the thinnest in the body, they can significantly benefit from the benefits of cooling products like eye creams and facial rollers.
Face Mist
What’s not good about a cool, refreshing face mist in the middle of hot weather? Like sheet masks, cooling a face mist can help give you a relaxing spray when you need one. It also provides relief to the skin during redness, irritation, and inflammation, albeit for a while.
Nail Varnish
Aside from skincare products, you can also put nail coating or varnishes on your skincare fridge. Keeping these in your fridge will help slow down its discoloration and solvent evaporation, allowing your nail polishes to last longer than when you don’t put them there.
