In this article:
Are there skin benefits to refrigerating skin care products?
Does refrigerating skin care products help them last longer?
Does refrigerating skin care ruin the formulas?
What skin care products are commonly refrigerated?
Should retinol be refrigerated?
Does niacinamide need to be refrigerated?
Should you refrigerate hyaluronic acid?
Should salicylic or glycolic acid be refrigerated?
What is a skin care fridge?
Benefits of skin care fridge
Skin care products have long claimed space on the shelves in our bathrooms: select SPFs, treatments and moisturisers sit nicely on our vanities next to our hair and body care favourites. Some skin care lovers take it a step further, freeing up space between the milk and eggs in their refrigerator to pack in eye treatments, serums and a myriad of other skin care goodies, marking products’ final storage frontier.
Although from a freshness perspective this sounds like a good idea, the benefits and claims surrounding storing skin care products in refrigerators (no matter how cute and miniature the skin care fridge is!) are murky at best, accompanied by exaggeration and a bit of misinformation.
Let’s dig into the science and tackle if refrigerators actually help skin care products last longer, as well as which ingredients actually benefit from this practice below.
Are there skin benefits to refrigerating skin care products?
We’ll be blunt: for the majority of skin care products, there are no benefits associated with storing them in the refrigerator. In fact, doing so hurts more than it helps. Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Debra Jaliman MD recommends “storing skin care products at room temperature away from sunlight.” In her opinion, “skin care refrigerators are unnecessary and may even be harmful to your products.”
Although a cool sensation is often a sensorial dream, placing products in the fridge can negatively impact skin. Exposure to cooler temperatures can damage skin’s barrier, which isn't fun (1). Signs of skin barrier damage include redness, tightness, itchiness, flaking and dryness.
One study demonstrated that exposing skin to temperatures of about 50°F (note: this is warmer than most average fridge temperatures) led to dilated blood vessels, which, when done repeatedly, can prompt skin redness (2). Such exposure can also worsen signs of rosacea.
We know a cooling eye mask can help reduce fluid retention-related puffiness around that area, but make sure that this practice isn’t done consistently.
Does refrigerating skin care products help them last longer?
Overall, refrigerating skin care products doesn’t help with formulary stability or increase the product’s useable lifespan. In fact, in most cases placing skin care products in the fridge can harm formulas, shorten shelf life and reduce overall effectiveness.
The one exception to this rule is the skin care ingredient vitamin C, AKA pure ascorbic acid. A 2021 study revealed that water-based vitamin C retains both its stability and potency when refrigerated or frozen (3). But before you toss your vitamin C serum in the fridge, remember there’s no research to support this is true for all of vitamin C’s derivatives (of which there are many) and the other ingredients in your pure ascorbic acid product might suffer negative consequences from long-term cold storage.
Does refrigerating skin care ruin the formulas?
Exposing skin care products to cold or hot temperatures for long periods of time can eventually ruin their formulas and can also cause colour or textural changes, like separation (4). Who wants a gloopy, separated serum or moisturiser? We’ll pass!
Most skin care products are created to work best and remain stable at room temperature (usually between 68-72°F). Altering the temperature range at which products exist for long periods of time can impact their effectiveness and prompt formulary degradation (5). When ingredients degrade, they’re less able to give their all to your skin. Keeping skin care products in the fridge or leaving them in a hot car during blazing summer weather for days on end are two examples of practices that can degrade skin care formulas, including sunscreens. So, don’t forget to take such products out of your car this summer.
On the other hand, consumers don’t need to worry about short-term temperature change. Skin care products are created and stability-tested with short-term temperature shifts in mind, such as transport in a hot delivery vehicle or accidentally leaving them in your car on a warm day. The concern lies with subjecting products to changes in temperature long-term, since this is where they begin to run into issues.
What skin care products are commonly refrigerated?
The most commonly refrigerated skin care products are:
- Moisturisers
- Toners
- Eye creams
- Eye masks
- Eye serums
- Face serums, including vitamin C serums
- Sheet masks
- Skin care tools, like jade rollers and gua shas
These products, mostly treatments, often find themselves lining the shelves of skin care fridges and common refrigerators for the refreshing, sensorial effects and the depuffing they aim to accomplish when chilled.
The best way to store your skin care products is in a dry, room-temperature area away from direct sunlight. As long as your products are formulated correctly and in opaque, airtight packaging, this approach to storage can help prolong their shelf life.
Should retinol be refrigerated?
In spite of what you’ve read online, retinol products don't need to be refrigerated. Retinol and other retinoids, like many other antioxidants, are sensitive to light, temperature and air. However, stashing your retinol or retinoid product in the fridge isn’t the solution to these ingredient challenges.
First off, recent studies suggest that light causes more retinol degradation than cold or hot temperatures (6). So instead of putting that retinol serum in the fridge, place it in a dry, room-temperature drawer or cabinet that lets little light in. Second, most efficacious retinol and retinoid formulas contain many other ingredients that can degrade when placed in cold temperatures. Third, skin care formulas are created to exist at room temperature and retinol will naturally degrade over time- there's simply no fighting that fact (7)!
Does niacinamide need to be refrigerated?
You can skip fridge storage when it comes to your favourite niacinamide product. The effectiveness of niacinamide doesn’t rely on cooler, chilled temperatures but does rely on the antioxidant stability-boosting measures we walked through above to stay effective for longer.
Should you refrigerate hyaluronic acid?
Hyaluronic acid (HA) doesn’t need to be kept in the refrigerator. But that doesn’t mean it can withstand routine exposure to hot temperatures. As an antioxidant, HA experiences thermal degradation (8).
Simply store your hyaluronic acid serum in dry, dark and room temperature locations to help fight off premature degradation.
Should salicylic or glycolic acid be refrigerated?
Exfoliating acids, like salicylic acid (BHA) and glycolic acid (an AHA), work best when kept in room temperature conditions. In fact, when in certain solvents (methanol, ethyl acetate, etc.) at cool temperatures, salicylic acid can crystalise (9). Although lovely to look at it, these crystals don’t benefit skin!
In order to avoid this, store in (you guessed it) dark, dry and room temperature places.
What is a skin care fridge?
As alluded to above, skin care fridges are miniature refrigerators that are designed to house skin care products and keep them refreshingly chilled. Due to their shrunken size, they often dot bathroom counters, vanity setups and desks.
Skin care fridges are smaller than mini fridges, with manufacturers of these specialised fridges recommending that they’re tuned to between 7.2-10 degrees Celsius. Regular fridges have a cooler temperature, which hovers somewhere between 1.7-4.4 degrees Celsius.
Benefits of skin care fridge
Beyond their cute design and ease of placement, there are no direct benefits to skin care fridges. If you have a pure, water-based vitamin C skin care product, you can store it in a skin care fridge, but your regular fridge would probably have the same effect. And ultimately, vitamin C does best with antioxidant friends and other beneficial ingredients which don’t take kindly to cold temps.
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References for this information:
- Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, February 2016, pages 223-249
- European Journal of Applied Physiology, April 2006, pages 711-721
- Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, September 2021, ePublication
- Journal of Cosmetic Science, July/August 2018, pages 245–255
- Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, October 2008, pages 430-437
- Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, July 2021, pages 2,350-2,358
- Clinical Therapeutics, March 2008, pages 543-547
- Polymer Degradation and Stability, October 2018, pages 107-13
- Crystal Growth & Design, April 2017, pages 2,964–2,974
