These days, getting through airport security practically requires expert-level attention. Should I take off my shoes? Laptop in or out? How about those batteries? And when it comes to liquids, you should know, nothing over 3.4 ounces is getting by them … or is it? Over the last few months, a social media trend has emerged, with travelers boasting about how they bested the TSA agents with their beauty products by freezing them before heading to the airport.
“I really, really hope this works because I love this cleansing balm,” TikToker Finding Fiona shared before putting her frozen Elemis balm through the belt. A moment later, it came through, with Fiona remarking, “I can’t believe that worked.”
She even repeated the experiment with the same outcome with a shampoo bottle.
And really, social media stars like Fiona aren’t wrong. As the TSA’s website explains, “Frozen liquid items are allowed through the checkpoint as long as they are frozen solid when presented for screening.” However, it importantly noted, “If frozen liquid items are partially melted, slushy, or have any liquid at the bottom of the container, they must meet 3-1-1 liquids requirements.”
So, yes, you can technically do this, but should you?
“From my perspective as a dermatologist, freezing most skincare products is generally a bad idea,” Dr. Hannah Kopelman, who’s completed two clinical fellowships in dermatology from Columbia University and skin cancer from Boston University, told Travel + Leisure. “The active ingredients in skincare—things like retinol, vitamin C, peptides, and even sunscreens—are highly sensitive to temperature changes.”
Dr. Hannah Kopelman
“I wouldn’t recommend routinely freezing skincare—it’s much safer to stick to travel-sized versions or transfer your products into TSA-approved containers so the formula stays stable and effective.”
— Dr. Hannah Kopelman
Kopelman explained that when you freeze them, the formula can “separate or degrade, meaning the product won’t be as effective when you apply it later. Freezing can also alter the texture, making creams grainy or serums watery, which can affect both application and absorption.”
Melanie Abeyta, an aesthetic nurse practitioner and owner of Harmony Aesthetics Center in Los Angeles, agreed, adding that “creams, serums, and emulsions may lose their texture, efficacy, or stability after freezing … additionally, repeated freezing and thawing can compromise the packaging and cause leakage or contamination.”
However, not all hope is lost if you’re attempting to get a few products through TSA. According to Dr. Louie Kim, a cosmetic chemist, certain products can “sometimes withstand freezing,” typically those that are “mostly solid or anhydrous (water-free), like certain oil balms, solid cleansers, or wax-based products.” According to Kim, these products don’t form ice crystals because “there is no water in them, and this means that they are much less vulnerable to freezing and thawing.”
Kopelman added that some products, like petroleum jelly, can usually withstand a freeze-thaw cycle without losing their integrity. “Sheet masks, if they’re just soaked in a hydrating essence, often do fine as well,” she noted. “That said, I wouldn’t recommend routinely freezing skincare—it’s much safer to stick to travel-sized versions or transfer your products into TSA-approved containers so the formula stays stable and effective.”
Kim also caveated the freezing advice by saying that “even though freezing won’t destroy anhydrous formulations, it is possible that their texture can change. Some natural oils, such as shea butter and coconut oil, can become slightly gritty in texture when cooled. In the process of freezing and thawing, the antioxidant properties in the oil can turn bad as well.”
The safest approach, Kim said, is to “use minis or transfer your product into TSA-approved containers instead of relying on freezing.”
