After finding a gap in the market, founders Sharleen Vong and Vivian Kha decided to take the plunge and create Australia’s first beauty fridge.
The micro fridge, which not only looks uber-cute on a bathroom vanity, also goes hand-in-hand with one of this year’s biggest industry trends, cold skincare.
BD sat down with The Beauty Fridge founders to speak about the brand’s successful reception, the design process and why you should consider making the switch to cold beauty.
Can you tell us about The Beauty Fridge and how the idea came about?
We met in the same workplace and instantly bonded over our love of beauty and skincare products. Over the many months leading up to the creation of The Beauty Fridge, there were discussions over the latest trends and one in particular kept resurfacing, the idea of cold skincare and the practice of storing skincare in your fridge. However, there was just something not enticing about using your jade roller that just came out of the fridge next to the onions! This is where the concept of creating our own mini refrigeration unit, especially catered to beauty and skincare products, just made sense.
After hours of research and unsatisfied online shopping, we discovered a hole in the market. There were no dedicated beauty fridges that currently existed in Australia, nor were there any fridges micro enough to sit comfortably and look appealing on your vanity. This was essentially the catalyst for the early beginnings of The Beauty Fridge.
What has it been like entering the Australian market and how has the reception been?
Being the first ones in Australia to launch a beauty fridge concept, it was always going to be a risk trialling an idea that was still very foreign to the Australian beauty industry. From the early beginnings we already knew we had a tremendous market here based off our sign up list of over 5,000 potential customers months prior to launching. We knew we were onto something that Australian consumers wanted and needed. We feel that the Australia beauty landscape is constantly changing and if we didn’t take this opportunity we would be kicking ourselves.
So far we are ecstatic at the positive response we have received, people are genuinely interested in our product and in the digital age that we live in today, it's no surprise that our #minifridgesheflies were a hit. We find that our market has expanded from not just the avid skincare user, but has also reached a wider target market of beauty enthusiasts to really take interest and time for their self-care routine.
What was the design process like and what are the key features of the fridge?
We had two things in mind when curating a design for The Beauty Fridge - storage space and aesthetic for the ultimate beauty enthusiast. We wanted The Beauty Fridge to fit seamlessly in your bathroom or glam room without taking up too much room or looking out of place. The fridge features a premium tempered glass door in three colours including white, blue and pink, with our logo delicately printed on the front. The super spacious 10 litre capacity makes it the largest 'beauty fridge' to date on the Australian market.
With two removable middle shelves and also a door shelf, we have kept the consumer in mind when selecting the design of our fridge with dedicated compartments to suit a variety of beauty products. The fridge not only features a cold setting, there is also a hot option for those who would like to warm up their face towels, oils and massage stones. Take your Beauty Fridge anywhere with a DC Car cord – self-care has never been this cute, compact and portable!
What are the benefits of the cold skincare practice from a products standpoint, and also for the skin?
The practice of storing skincare and beauty items in a fridge is definitely having its moment in 2019 and rightfully so, as it presents a plethora of benefits. The cold environment ensures the efficacy of products by inhibiting bacterial and fungal growth. For some active ingredients such as benzoyl peroxide, retinol or vitamin C, when placed in a warm environment or in a steam filled bathroom, they can quickly break down the potency and effectiveness of the formula.
This is also relative for skincare that have less chemical preservatives such as natural, organic or even DIY skincare, The Beauty Fridge helps to ensure the shelf life is extended and bacterial growth is kept at bay by keeping your products in a dark and cool environment.
From a skin standpoint, the cooling experience from using refrigerated products has been shown to calm and soothe inflamed skin, in particular for rosacea and acne sufferers. Utilising the cooling sensation will be the ultimate de-puffing and radiance booster. Place your jade roller in the fridge to increase circulation and lymphatic drainage on your face for more sculpted, firmer feeling skin.
What's next for The Beauty Fridge?
Our next steps would be expanding to a worldwide reach; we currently have a few stockists in the works that we'll be expanding into. There has been a huge demand from the U.S., U.K. and Asia where the cold skincare trend is on an upward trend.
For our Australian customer base, our next steps would be to set foot in a physical brick and mortar store so that our consumers are able to get a feel for The Beauty Fridge in person. We also have a few interesting things in the works, partnering up with other Aussie businesses and some fun promotions we'll be running over the course of Christmas!
