What You Should Know About Storing Your Skincare

When it comes to our bathrooms, cleanliness is key. But when our skincare routines take up the majority of the space on our countertops, it’s hard to keep everything tidy long-term, and we often find ourselves keeping products as close to the sink as possible for easy access. Unfortunately, that might not be the best solution for all our products — especially the ones that can get damaged (or moldy!) from steamy showers.

Read on for a few of our top skincare storage tips, from storing face masks in the fridge to finding the perfect place for those somewhat dangerous aerosol containers. After this, you might even have space on your countertops for non-beauty products. Maybe.

Should you store your skincare in the fridge?

If you spend quite a lot of time on your Insta feed, you’ve probably noticed the sudden popularity of beauty fridges. While it’s not necessary to store your skincare products in the fridge — let alone buy a brand-new mini fridge for your beauty products — the cooling effect is a great pick-me-up. “I love to keep DEW MIST Setting Spray in the fridge, as the whole point of a quick spray is to refresh the skin,” says Lee Ethridge, Executive Director of Global Education and Consumer Experience at bareMinerals. The same goes for eye creams, like our SKINLONGEVITY Vital Power Eye Cream. Keep them in the fridge to help combat puffiness in the mornings.

“During the summer months, [a cool moisturizer] on my tired, freshly woken face is just heavenly,” Lee adds. And it’s not just moisturizer that works well in the fridge on those hot, hot days. Try putting your favorite mask, like a CLAYMATES Mask Duo, in the fridge 30-60 minutes prior to use for a cooling sensation. Just add cucumber slices and spa water and you’ve got yourself a sweet summer treat.

Where should you store the rest of your skincare?

But don’t start chilling your entire skincare routine. “Some things don’t belong in the fridge,” Lee says. “Facial oils and body oils will solidify [in the cold].” Also consider keeping night products, like overnight masks and thick moisturizers, at room temperature — unless you really like going to sleep with a chilled face (to each their own!).

For the rest of your routine, the medicine cabinet isn’t always the best storage solution. Keep most products away from the steam of the shower, in a dry, cool area of your bathroom or bedroom. And if your skincare comes in powder form, like a powder cleanser or powder sunscreen, be even more cautious. “High humidity could modify the texture of powders,” Lee says. Even worse, in a bathroom with no windows or fans, the humidity could cause powder to get moldy. Yikes.

What about storing aerosol containers?

You probably have a few of these lying around, between face mists, spray-on sunscreens and self-tanners. The trick is to store these away from heat. “Never store aerosol containers in high temperatures as they are pressurized containers,” Lee says. They could crack or explode if exposed to high enough temperatures — so definitely keep them away from your bathroom radiator, hot tools or windows. Your best bet is somewhere dark, dry and cool, like a vanity drawer or bathroom closet.

How do you store a travel skincare routine?

Packing for a vacation can be difficult (especially if you have to fit everything inside a tiny carry-on). When it comes to your toiletries bag, “Try to pack your products tightly together to avoid a lot of movement when being transported,” Lee says. To avoid any leakage, make sure all of your lids are on as tight as possible. You might even want to store sticky or oily products, like face oils and serums, in a separate bag.

Taking off (literally)? Air pressure in the cabin changes throughout your flight. If your bottles aren’t sealed tightly enough and if all the air isn’t squeezed out from your bottles or plastic bags, the pressure could force liquids to leak. Invest in travel-ready containers with quality screw-on lids, and, as a rule of thumb, always open your containers slowly after landing — just in case.

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