L’Oreal just solved your sunburn problem. The beauty giant released a high-tech skin patch that monitors UV exposure and alerts wearers when it’s time to apply sunscreen or head for the shade. “My UV Patch,” created in partnership with PCH engineering firm, looks like any other temporary heart-shaped tattoo at first glance. But the patch contains a Band-Aid-like sensor with photosensitive dyes that fade when exposed to UV rays, The New York Times reports.
To assess your exposure to UV rays, you simply photograph the patch with your smartphone and upload it to an app (available on iOs and Android devices). The waterproof patch lasts five days, which is about the span of your beach vacation. It’s disposable, environmentally safe and can be worn on any exposed skin.
The first of 10 wearable tech items L’Oreal is developing, My UV Patch will launch this summer as a gift with the purchase of the brand’s La Roche-Posay products. And if you like the idea of a UV patch but shudder at the thought of wearing a heart tattoo, Guive Balooch, the global vice president of L’Oréal’s Technology Incubator, says more options are coming in the future.
For now, dermatologists are already raving about the UV patch. Dr. Christopher Rowland Payne of The London Clinic called the patch “ingenious,” telling The Daily Mail, “This is an exciting device that will motivate people in a positive way to take control of their sun exposure and will encourage them to know when it is time to leave the sun or to reapply their sunscreen.”
It’s like your Mom urging you to put on more sunscreen, but in app form. Who wouldn’t want that?
[via The New York Times]
