Summer is my favorite time of year. Few things are more enjoyable than going for a swim on a nice hot day or cruising around town in a convertible. Something I do hate, however, is lotion or sprays of any kind which unfortunately includes sunblock.
Although I typically don't burn very often, it does happen from time to time if I stay out for hours on end. By the time I start to feel the burn, it's already too late.
There's really no way around it - sunburns suck. Depending on the degree of the burn, they can range from mild discomfort when in contact with warm water to searing, unrelenting pain. Aloe vera is the first remedy most people reach for but wouldn't it have been better to simply avoid the burn in the first place?
That's the idea behind L'Oreal's latest product, My UV Patch. Unveiled at CES, My UV Patch is a stretchable wearable measuring just 50 micrometers thick that can be worn on the skin for several days at a time. It features photosensitive dyes that change color as they're exposed to UV rays. Best yet, you can apply sunscreen over them without trashing them.
To determine exposure, users can simply snap a photo of the wearable and upload it using the company's mobile app.
While an improvement over previous technologies like a rigid, non-stretchable device, My UV Patch still presents some issues. For one, few people are going to want to wear a heart-shaped sticker on an exposed part of their body like their hand or face. What's more, the sticker is going to block sunlight from hitting the skin underneath which will leave a heart-shaped tan line.
The idea, of course, isn't really to use this as an everyday product but rather to help educate people about UV exposure. L'Oreal plans to offer the stickers and mobile apps free of charge later this year.
https://www.techspot.com/news/63395-loreal-new-stretchable-wearable-aims-help-fight-sunburns.html
