Keeping skincare products refrigerated has gained popularity, with many consumers swearing for its cooling properties and longer shelf life. Only some skincare products, though, should be refrigerated. Some may become ineffective or even spoil if kept in a chilly environment. Let’s talk about What skincare products should not be refrigerated.
Why should skincare products be refrigerated?
Most skincare products should be stored in a dry, relaxed environment to extend their shelf life. Dermatology nurse practitioner Sherry Sanvictores, MSN, NP, says, “One shouldn’t keep skincare with active ingredients in a warm or sunny space.” “Products stored in a cool environment can help delay the breakdown of the active ingredients.”
Given that most of us store our skincare products in warm, muggy bathrooms, a skin freezer might be the secret to the longevity of your go-to moisturizer.
What Are The Advantages Of Refrigerating Skincare Products?
The following are a few advantages of keeping skincare items refrigerated:
Ideal Stability of Ingredients
Stabilizing certain skincare chemicals, like retinol, requires keeping a chilly environment. Cold temperatures maintain the potency of ingredients while also improving their efficiency. Always follow the directions on the product, especially if the active components are susceptible to cold.
Increased Product Life
Particularly in goods with natural or antioxidant-rich compounds, the cold atmosphere can delay the deterioration of some constituents, extending their useful life.
Longer Shelf Life for Natural Products
Cold storage is essential for increasing the shelf life of natural skincare products without preservatives. Cold temperatures prolong natural goods’ potency by delaying ingredients’ degradation.
Decreased Inflammation
Cooling skincare products, such as face masks or eye lotions, can help narrow blood vessels and lessen inflammation and puffiness. This is especially advantageous for skin-soothing and calming products.
Chilling to Diminish Inflammation
Refrigerated skincare products have several positive effects on skin health, including a reduction in inflammation and puffiness. The chilly feeling narrows blood vessels, reducing swelling; this is an excellent treatment for sensitive skin or rosacea-related problems.
Which skincare items don’t need to be kept cold?
Store your clay goods, such as clay masks, at room temperature, except oil-based products, such as cosmetics, which will solidify too quickly in the refrigerator. They can become worthless due to a change in color and consistency, in addition to hardening if they get too cold.
This is a guide to help you decide which skincare products are safe to store at room temperature.
Products Based on Oil
Oil-based cosmetics, including oil serums, cleaning balms, and face oils, are best stored at room temperature. These products may split or solidify in cold weather, making them harder to use and less effective. A change in consistency could result in an uneven application that could interfere with your skincare regimen.
- For instance, argan oil
- Balms that are cleaned with jojoba oil
- serums with an oil basis
Water-in-Oil Distillates
Certain moisturizers and other water-in-oil emulsions can also be harmed by chilling. These goods depend on an intricate equilibrium between water and oil, which can degrade in freezing climates. The resulting product is often lumpy or divided and loses its ability to offer the desired moisturizing effects.
- Rich moisturizers are one example.
- nourishing cream
Masks made of clay
It is recommended that clay masks be stored at room temperature. The clay may dry out or harden if refrigerated, making it more challenging to distribute uniformly across the skin. Furthermore, the chilly temperature may change how well the mask removes pollutants from the skin.
Bentonite clay masks are one example.
- Masks made of kaolin clay
Products Made of Silicone
Products with silicone bases, including serums or primers with a lot of silicone, are designed to be stable at room temperature. The silicone in these items may get thick and challenging to apply if refrigerated. This may diminish the product’s overall efficacy by impairing its capacity to leave the skin with a smooth surface.
Examples:
- primers based on silicon
- heavy in silicone serums
Fragrance & Perfume Oils
Fragrance oils and perfumes should never be kept in the refrigerator. These goods may lose their perfume or change their fragrance composition due to cold temperatures. The oils may become hazy; in certain situations, the scent may completely fade and become an off-putting odor.
Examples:
- Fragrant body oils;
- fragrance oils
Dehydrated Goods
Products that are anhydrous or devoid of water do not need to be refrigerated and may even be damaged by it. These goods are frequently stable at room temperature, and storing them in the refrigerator can create texture changes that make them challenging to use.
- For instance, powdered face masks
- dependable balm cleansers
- Balms for lips
Goods that Contain Active Ingredients
Retinol, vitamin C, and peptides are active compounds that may be temperature-sensitive. Although some consumers chill these goods to increase their shelf life, doing so might occasionally result in instability, mainly if the product is made for something other than cold storage. Recommend storing items at a steady, cool room temperature, for the most part.
Examples :
- include vitamin C serums,
- retinol creams, and
- peptide-based goods.
Balms and Waxes
At room temperature, wax-containing products such as salves, lip balms, and some ointments should be kept. These wax-based solutions may solidify excessively in cold storage, making application challenging. This may result in an uneven application, reducing the product’s efficacy.
Examples:
- Healing salves and
- lip balms.
- solid fragrances
How to Keep Oils, Creams, and Lotions Stored
Refrigeration is rarely the best long-term option for skincare creams, lotions, and oils because of possible texture changes. Cold temperatures can upset the delicate balance of oil and water in emulsified goods. Thickeners and emulsifiers maintain this balance.For instance, cooling oil-in-water emulsions results in a thicker, trickier-to-spread consistency, whereas destabilization and separation are possible with water-in-oil creams. When oils containing lipids and botanical triglycerides are refrigerated, they cause the fats to solidify. At controlled room temperature between (15-25°C, and away from heat sources and light, store smooth, precisely calibrated formulations for the longest possible shelf life. Certain water-based lotions with sufficient preservatives work better when refrigerated to avoid microbiological problems.
Suggestions
Correct storage becomes apparent as a crucial component in the skincare industry. While refrigeration has benefits for certain people, there are drawbacks as well. Gaining the most out of your products requires understanding how chemicals respond. A diligent strategy ensuring the survival and flourishing of skincare rituals involves reading labels, following storage directions, and controlling the environment. This all-encompassing strategy increases the shelf life of some goods and makes skincare more pleasurable and productive.
In summary
Although some people benefit from refrigerating skincare items, it’s not a universally applicable remedy. Store products with oil, clay masks, water-in-oil emulsions, and other ingredients at room temperature to maintain their consistency and efficacy.You’ll get the most out of your skincare routine and maintain the optimal performance of your products if you know which ones to keep out of the cold and which to refrigerate.