The Proper Way to Store Your Skincare Products

Where do you store your skincare products? Are they proudly adorning your bathroom counter? Are they sloppily stacked in your medicine cabinet? Perhaps you’re more of a neat freak and keep them meticulously aligned in a drawer or on a shelf. 

Regardless, the question remains: are you doing it right?

You spend your hard earned money on the best quality skincare products for men, and you want them to be as effective as possible. Wouldn’t it be a shame if the way you store them was making them less effective?  

Why Skincare Storage Matters

Some of the active ingredients in your skincare products can begin to degrade when exposed to certain conditions. For example, vitamin C (a key ingredient in our Resurfacing Anti-Aging Cream) becomes less potent when exposed to extreme heat. 

Even if the active ingredients remain at their best, the formula itself can begin to breakdown if it gets too hot or cold. That can lead to separation, curdling, or hardening, making the product either impossible to use or far less effective. 

Direct sunlight damages skincare products.

That’s why most come in dark bottles, jars, or tubes - so that sunlight cannot penetrate and degrade them. But even the darkest jar can’t help your product if it’s kept on a sunny windowsill everyday or left in a car exposed to direct sunlight.

To keep your skincare products at their best, store them in a dark, room temperature place. A cabinet, drawer, box, or shelf that is not exposed to sunlight will work best. 

What About Shower Products? 

It makes sense to store your shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and soap in the shower for easy access. Even so, there are some less than ideal locations for them in the shower.

Caddies that hang from the shower head are convenient, but not great for storing your products.

Anything hanging directly below he shower head is guaranteed to get soaking wet. If any of your bottles are not sealed properly, they could be contaminated with water. 

If you use a soap bar, allowing it to remain damp is an invitation for bacteria. A smarter move is a shelf or similar storage item that stays away from the shower head, doesn’t collect water, and allows all your products to dry completely between showers. 

Do Skincare Products Expire? 

Yes. Our products are marked with expiration dates so you know how long they are safe and effective to use. Brickell products are good for 2 years if they are unopened and stored in a cool, dark place. Once they’ve been opened, they have a shelf life of 6 months.

What about skincare brands that aren’t so transparent with their products’ expiration dates? Check the label or container for a “period after opening”, a duration of time after which the product is no longer safe to use. For example, a jar marked 12M would be good for 12 months after you first open the container. 

If you use your skincare products regularly, you likely won’t have to worry about the expiration date.

For example, Brickell products are generally packaged in sizes designed to last about 2-3 months, depending on frequency of use. But if you’ve purchased a product, stuck it in the back of your bathroom drawer, and subsequently forgotten all about it, please don’t reach for it again 2 years later. 

That’s because the preservative ingredients in skincare products that prevent bacteria growth only last so long. If you reach down into the product with dirty fingers or allow water into the jar, that’s more contamination. This is fine for a while, but not years later. You don’t want to accidentally introduce bacteria to your skin. If in doubt, toss it.

What About Skincare Mini-Fridges? 

Ah yes, the skincare mini-fridge has become the golden child of skincare social media. 

Do you need to keep your skincare products refrigerated? No.

Their formulas are designed to stay safe when kept at room temperature and there is no skin benefit to refrigerating any of your products.

However, it might feel good.

Some guys swear by the cool, refreshing feeling of applying a refrigerated anti-aging cream to their skin on a hot summer day.

If that’s you, go for it. But don’t feel obligated. This is more of a pro-level move for skincare aficionados who know what they like. (We see you, we applaud you.)

Consistent Use of Skincare Products Is Most Important

Storing your skincare products properly is easy and smart. Keep them in a cool, dry place. Don’t let everything stay damp in your shower. And don’t use expired products.

But more important than all of that is using your products consistently. No matter how you store them, they won’t do your skin any good unless you apply them regularly.