I think owning a dedicated skincare fridge definitely counts as ‘extra’ but in the best way possible! A mini fridge for your beauty products can definitely up your skincare game, especially if you have sensitive skin.
I often advise keeping certain beauty products, like masks and eye creams, in the fridge. Unfortunately, the walk from the bathroom to the kitchen is often just too long to be realistic. A beauty fridge definitely solves the problem, even if it’s the most minor and first world problem I can imagine having.
If you’d like to take the icy plunge into the world of beauty fridges, I’ve selected 5 of the best ones available online right now. I also give some key details that might illuminate why skincare fridges have become such a trend.
I talk about the benefits of beauty fridges and explain exactly what you can and can’t put in them. I touch on a few other questions and concerns you might have, and finish with my final thoughts on whether skincare and makeup fridges are truly worth it.
In this article:
Our Picks for the Best Skincare Fridges
Check out some of the best skincare fridges available on the market right now!
1. Cooluli 4L Thermoelectric Mini Beauty Fridge & Warmer
You get options with this customizable mini fridge and warmer. Day to day, you can use it to keep your skincare stash nice and cool, or you can let it heat things up to 65 degrees Celsius should you decide to do a one-off warming treatment. It is quite small, and will only hold 4-5 items at a time, but it is also highly portable and even has a car and USB charger. It comes in black, pink, white, or cow print at Nordstrom.
2. BCP Thermoelectric Mini Fridge Cooler & Warmer
This little beauty fridge is sleek, with multiple benefits! It is very compact and offers both cooling and warming features. You can take it with you on the road because it has a car charger, as well! You can use the USB cable to plug it into your laptop at the office as well to have your beauty products at hand. Order it online from Walmart!
3. RCA Portable Retro Mini Fridge
This little beauty fridge is adorable, shaped to look like a retro refrigerator. It is on the larger size, as it is made to hold up to 6 cans of soft drink or a similar amount of beauty products. Once it has had enough time to cool down, it will keep things at around 15-20 degrees Celsius below room temperature. We can’t think of anything more refreshing at the end of a hot day. This mini fridge is sold at Walmart in 6 colors.
4. Chefman 4L Electric Mini Fridge
This is another fantastic beauty mini fridge option from a kitchenware company. It is large enough to hold 6-8 products at once, which is plenty for most skincare aficionados, and has a sleek, modern design. If you need it to, it will warm up a bit, which is perfect for the occasional warm single-use mask. It is available at Walmart in 4 colors.
5. Frigidaire Portable Retro Mini Fridge
Frigidaire is one of the original refrigerator brands, so you can trust that their mini fridge is reliable. It is the perfect size for holding up to 8 full-sized beauty items and keeping them at a comfortably chilled temperature. The design is adorably retro, and even includes a removable shelf and car plug. Buy it in your favorite of the 4 colors available at Walmart!
Beauty Fridge FAQ
From their benefits to uses, here are the main questions regarding mini skincare fridges answered!
Maybe you’ve noticed that influencers on Instagram and Reddit have been changing up their usual shelfies (i.e. photos of their skincare shelves), and have instead switched to sharing photos of tiny fridges filled with all kinds of cosmetic products. It’s not surprising, because mini fridges filled with cosmetics are exactly the kind of thing that draws attention on social media.
There are all kinds of benefits to storing your products in such an innovative container that will keep your products cool.
• Cool skincare products are very soothing to the skin. They can bring down inflammation and reduce irritation, so they’re particularly great for those with sensitive skin.
• A cold touch can be very refreshing and invigorating in the morning, so keeping products in a beauty fridge will help you wake up just as well as a splash of cold water.
• A massage with a cool skincare product in the morning will help temporarily tighten the skin and minimize pores, as well as reduce facial puffiness.
• There is some evidence that the skin absorbs products more quickly and thoroughly when the temperature is colder, so you might notice that your skin feels bouncier and more hydrated after you apply a refrigerated cream.
• Certain highly active skincare ingredients, with vitamin C being the best example, are also very quick to lose their efficacy. Keeping products like that in a skincare mini fridge can help keep the active ingredients stable for longer both because of the cold and especially because of the dark. Be aware that exposure to air is another serious cause of degradation, however, that a beauty fridge will not solve.
• They last for a long time, and they are definitely not going to break the bank since their prices are extremely affordable.
It might be more accurate to call these portable coolers rather than mini fridges. They are definitely not as powerful as real, full-sized fridges, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Instead of making things super cold, makeup fridges keep the temperature down to around 15 degrees Celsius below room temperature.
When it comes to skin care, this is actually great. Beauty products are not meant to go through extreme temperature changes. Much like food, skincare products will go bad if they are allowed to get super cold and then warm again.
However, the temperature in the mini fridge will make your products cool, rather than extremely cold or frozen. Even if you forget them outside the fridge overnight, you won’t have to worry about the preservative system being compromised or the structure of your product changing.
The other benefit is to the skin. A cool product will definitely help soothe and refresh the skin, but applying an extremely cold product can actually slightly shock the skin and will definitely make for an uncomfortable experience. It can sometimes be difficult to control the temperature with a regular fridge, but the beauty fridges bring the products down to a temperature that is comfortable and pleasant.
The final benefit is that the electricity consumption of these mini fridges is fairly negligible. They consume less electricity than the average light bulb, so you don’t need to feel too guilty about their environmental footprint or their impact on your electric bill.
You can put nearly all of your skincare products in a mini fridge! The best products to keep cool are ones that also have skin-soothing or firming effects, like sheet masks, serums, moisturizers, and eye treatments. Facial massage tools like crystal rollers can also have a much nicer effect when they’re cooled down a bit.
Most beauty fridges will hold around 8 full-sized products, as well as a few more samples or eye products. Depending on the number of skincare products in your routine, you might be able to fit your whole regimen into a single beauty fridge. There is certainly no harm in that! I would bet that applying cold foundation in the morning could be a wonderfully refreshing experience, so you can even treat it as a makeup fridge!
The only products you should keep outside in room temperature are facials oils that contain a lot of coconut oil or other oils that can become solid once cooled. Otherwise, your facial oil might become a little too thick, and you won’t be able to dispense it.
You may have noticed, but most of the mini fridges I’ve recommended are actually primarily advertised for beverages. You can absolutely use a skincare fridge for anything else that will fit in it, but remember that it’s not a real fridge, so it might not work for quick-spoiling items like milk or left-overs.
Final Thoughts
It’d be hard to argue that you need a skincare fridge, but it’s definitely not a bad thing to have! Before you rush over and order one, however, consider the logistics: do you have the counter space in your bathroom for a mini fridge? Do you have a convenient outlet to plug it into?
If the answer to both is yes, then there is no reason not to go for a mini fridge! If the answer is no, then either give up on chilled cosmetics or develop the habit of making that walk to the kitchen. They are especially worth considering if your skin is sensitive or if your face gets puffy in the mornings.
Photos via @adelialaughs, Instagram