Skin care fridge

[sparkles0913]

Hi everyone! 
I have an old 1 cube mini fridge that I am looking into turning into a skin care fridge but I had some questions. First what temperature do you recommend setting it at? My mini fridge has a dial from 1-6 so I put it on the “warmest” setting because I wouldn’t think it should be very col. I also am not really sure what and what not to put in there. The ones I am for sure putting in are my masks and eye cream but my serums, sunscreens, moisturizers, essence, mists, advances night repair, toners, and oils I am not very sure about. A big question I have is should my Paula’s choice 2% BHA be in there? I did a google search but every website seemed to have different opinions about what should and should not go in the fridge so I was hoping to hear people’s actual experiences. I posted a picture of my stuff if you see anything that should absolutely not be in there please let me know! Thanks! 

 

[eshoe]

Thank you @sprocketta for tagging me! @sparkles0913, I do have a mini fridge but wow I could go for one the size of yours! I am grateful @WinglessOne shared, and here’s why. Mine was just born out of necessity, she has actual knowledge to help you determine what belongs and what doesn’t 🙂 

I used to keep backups and hydrating masks in my regular fridge, and would forget about them. Having a small one nearby means I remember to use what I have. It works most of the time; but I still forget🙄

I keep my highly perishable serums and more natural products in there, in addition to my jars of eye/lip masks. Here’s a peek of what it looks like now:

I’m envious of your spacious fridge, as you can see, mine is tiny! I’ve resorted to stocking the one in my kitchen again.

[WinglessOne]

@eshoe  You're too sweet. 😊 And yep, skincare products that lack preservatives definitely benefit from fridge time. Along those lines, anyone who tries their hand at making their own jars of wash-off masks from scratch should refrigerate them. And of course I can't help but notice my favorite eye patches in your fridge. 🙂 

@sparkles0913  Heh, a friend and I joked last year that we should've kept our dorm room cube fridges from 30 years ago. "We could've been waaaaay ahead of the trend!" 🤣 

[sparkles0913]

@WinglessOne  I just bought the PTR holiday set of eye patches (cucumber, 24k, and water drench) and I am SO excited to stick those bad boys in the fridge then on my face after a nice hot steamy shower once my 6 month old is asleep 😀

[eshoe]

Yep I purchased them after your reviews @WinglessOne, and running out of my rose ones. I love them and use them a few trines a week. In the AM mostly when I am tired and want to feel like I am at least doing something about my eyes😆

[sparkles0913]

@eshoe  Thanks for sharing! My fridge is actually from my dorm room at college over 10 years 😂 I decided to dig it out of storage and put it to use for my skin! 

[eshoe]

Good for you, @sparkles0913! Happy to see you are getting some good advice here, too. It’s fun to see what/how everyone uses their fridge:)

[WinglessOne]

Thanks for the tag, @sprocketta ! Haha, mad scientist 🤣 I love it! 

@sparkles0913  Since most skincare products are formulated with preservatives, they don’t really need refrigeration. When I see parabens in ingredients lists, I know that product will be yuck-free throughout its expected lifetime. Yay parabens! Other preservatives are also good, of course. Even alcohol denat isn’t 100% terrible if it’s present as a preservative, though it can be very drying (which is why I generally avoid it). 

The only skincare items I occasionally keep in my kitchen fridge are: 

Vitamin C serum - ascorbic acid is famously unstable: it degrades when exposed to light and air. Refrigeration can slow down degradation. But I don't always keep this in the fridge. 

Spoiler

A month or 2 ago, I had to stop using my vitamin C serum so my face could recover from a bad reaction (caused by a different product). My serum contains more stable forms of vitamin C, but they’re still prone to degradation—so I put the serum in the fridge for storage until I could resume use. 

Someday I'll try making my own small batches (1-2 weeks worth) of vitamin C serum. Sure, I’ll have to remake it often, but it’s inexpensive and the process seems very easy (Lab Muffin has a good recipe). And I’ll never have to keep it in the fridge since I’ll frequently remake it. 

Certain sheet masks - this is just to make a cooling treat for my face. I do this only with anti-inflammatory masks—usually those containing lots of aloe, green tea, or centella asiatica—and I don’t always keep these sheet masks in the fridge. But once in a while, I’ll pop a couple in there for future inflammation emergencies. 

Spoiler

Certain mask brands will instruct you to never keep their masks in the fridge. LuLuLun is one of those brands. In addition to single-sheet sleeves, they make multi-sheet packs: 7 sheets per resealable pouch, or 30+ sheets per resealable box. It seems counterintuitive to keep these multipacks out of the fridge, but LLL insists it’s not necessary and can negatively impact their masks. 

Eye patches - another “just need something comfortably cold on my skin” thing. These I do always keep in the fridge. 

Jade roller - sensing a theme here? 🙂 These rollers feel amazingly good when they’re chilled, especially on the back of my neck and behind my ears. My jade roller lives in the fridge. 

I never refrigerate retinoid serums, chemical exfoliants, hydrating toners, mists, oils, or moisturizers. Again, there’s no need if they contain good preservatives, plus I doubt chilling them improves their efficacy. Also, oils can solidify/cloud up in cool temps. I get why some folks keep mists and toners in the fridge—for the cooling sensation—but, eh, it’s unnecessary for my skin. 

Since I keep so few skincare products chilled and don’t need immediate access to them in the bathroom, I don’t need a mini fridge. It’d be kinda convenient, but I’m not willing to devote counter space for it. 

[tjffc]

@WinglessOne I love it!  Great information and very thorough. I call you the 'beauty guru.'  😁👌

[WinglessOne]

Aw, thanks @tjffc !

[sparkles0913]

@WinglessOne  This is so amazing, thank you for the wealth of information!! I actually have a little alcove to stick the fridge in which is why I decided to give it a try especially since I already had a fridge! Do you know if the fridge will hurt the BHA exfoliant? Just thinking to keep it in there for convenience since the rest of my Usual PM routine is in there as well. 

[WinglessOne]

No problem, @sparkles0913 ! Assuming the Paula's Choice exfoliant is the CLEAR Anti-Redness Exfoliation Solution (I use that one, too): the back of the bottle says "Store at 20-25ºC (68-77ºF)" which is room temp. It's a water-based product with no oils, so... eh, I doubt slight chilling will degrade the product or render salicylic acid useless. But also, I doubt there's much benefit to storing it in the fridge, aside from just keeping all your products stored in the same place. 

If I had a spare cube fridge like yours, I'd turn it into a wine fridge for the bathroom. What, am I the only person who occasionally drinks wine while soaking in the tub—or okay, maybe also while applying makeup at night, though I've stayed away from in-person dinners/drinks/parties/get-togethers/etc. with friends since March so my nighttime makeup sessions have been mostly to test and experiment with newly acquired products... but ANYway, a good chilled white or rosé is a very nice bath time treat. Or for non-drinkers, a chilled fruit juice, seltzer/sparkling water, iced tea... I'm just sayin'. 😉 I do hope you enjoy your skincare fridge, though! It's good that you've got an alcove to keep it in. 

[sprocketta]

@WinglessOne This was exactly the sort of response I was expecting. Didn't you get the name The Guru at some point from the community vote?

[WinglessOne]

@sprocketta  Oh yeah, the Class of 2019 vote! I think "know it all" was part of the title. 😂 

[sprocketta]

I believe @eshoe has a skincare fridge and respect her opinion. I think @itsfi does as well and she's also a skincare maven. I don't know if she has a fridge, but @WinglessOne also uses the PC BHA and would probably have an answer based on her mad scientist knowledge of ingredients. FYI, the PC BHA is one of my holy grails as well. 

[RAWRitsRED]

Hi @sparkles0913!

I have a mini fridge too and had the same questions as you.  This is what I learned through online research.

Things NOT to put in fridge:

• Oil based products so any products with oils in them (face oil, moisturizers, etc.)
• Clay masks since they will harden
• Some serums!  Make sure to check for formulation before putting them in the  fridge

Things you can put in the fridge:

•  Eye cream
• Sheet masks
• Facial mist
• Oil free moisturizer, gel moisturizer
• Temperature sensitive products: products with aloe, retinoids, vitamin C, floral water
• Probiotic and preservative free products

[tjffc]

@RAWRitsRED @sparkles0913 I have a mini fridge as well and did my research. I uncovered the same information as @RAWRitsRED. So I follow the same guidelines.