The compact beauty fridges that sit on bedroom dressers and dorm desks have become the subject of a large safety action, with about 250,000 units called back over a fire risk. Federal regulators say the culprit is a small selector switch that can short circuit, overheat and ignite the plastic around it.
What goes wrong in the Cooluli minifridges
These are the small thermoelectric coolers marketed for skincare and cosmetics as well as snacks and drinks, and the flaw is electrical rather than mechanical. The recalled units have an internal power supply with two input ports on the back — one for alternating current and one for direct current — instead of the single low-voltage port and external power brick found on many similar coolers. That design is where the trouble concentrates, because the switch handling the higher-voltage input can fail in a way that produces heat instead of simply toggling the unit on and off.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall on August 13, 2026 and listed replacement of the power cord as the remedy under recall number 26-685. The devices were manufactured by Ningbo Iceberg Electronic Appliance Co. of China and imported by Lisse USA LLC of Brooklyn. The agency’s full description of the defect and the affected series is laid out in the CPSC recall notice.
Nineteen reports of smoking, melting and fire
The recall was not a precaution issued before anything happened. Regulators say the company received at least 19 reports of the minifridges smoking, sparking, burning, melting, overheating or catching fire, and those incidents added up to more than $80,000 in property damage. One person reported a smoke inhalation injury. The pattern of repeated overheating, rather than a single freak event, is what elevated the coolers to a formal recall.
The 10-liter and 15-liter models and batch numbers affected
The action covers 10-liter and 15-liter Cooluli models sold under the Infinity, Classic, Glow Beauty and Vibe series names, in colors including black, blue, green, white and red as well as multicolored patterns, photos and logos. The included batch numbers run from 1535 through 1545 and from 1200000 through 1202080, and both the model number and batch number are printed on a label inside the door. A quick way to identify a recalled unit is the pair of input ports on the back and the absence of a laptop-style power brick on the removable cord.
Where the beauty fridges were sold
The minifridges were sold on Amazon and on the company’s own website from January 2019 through October 2024 for between $80 and $120, an affordable price point that put large numbers of them into circulation. The recall follows a string of similar small-refrigerator actions, including a separate Frigidaire-branded minifridge recall tied to more than $700,000 in reported property damage. Together the cases point to the switched-mode power components in budget coolers as a recurring weak spot.
The replacement cord remedy and how to claim it
Owners are told to stop using the recalled minifridges immediately and contact the company for a free replacement power cord. The process asks a person to look up the model and batch numbers on the manufacturer’s recall page, then unplug the unit, cut the power cord and submit photos showing the identifying labels. In return the company will send a replacement direct-current power cord along with a permanent sticker to cover the alternating-current port, which effectively retires the pathway that caused the overheating. Anyone who has stored one of these coolers unused should still check the labels, since the hazard exists whenever the unit is plugged in.
Why budget coolers keep landing on recall lists
The Cooluli action joins a growing list of small-refrigerator recalls that share a common weak point in their electronics. Thermoelectric coolers are cheap to manufacture and popular as gifts and dorm accessories, but the low-cost switches and power supplies inside them are precisely the parts most prone to overheating when a component degrades or a contact fails. Because these units are small, inexpensive and often bought on impulse, many owners keep them for years without registering the product or watching for safety notices, which lets a defective design linger in bedrooms and offices long after a recall is first announced.
The remedy in this case is also a window into how manufacturers try to neutralize a hazard without swapping out an entire product. By supplying a direct-current power cord and a sticker that permanently seals off the alternating-current port, the company effectively disables the higher-voltage pathway where the overheating occurred, converting the cooler to the safer low-voltage design used elsewhere in the category. Owners who no longer have the original cord, or who are unsure whether a stored unit qualifies, are advised to verify the model and batch numbers before plugging the cooler back in, since the danger exists only while the recalled configuration is drawing power. Treating a long-idle beauty fridge as suspect until it is checked is the cautious course.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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