With a new year comes a new opportunity for the beauty industry to wow us with some next level, game changing innovation. And although we're obviously totally excited about Pat McGrath's latest lip balm launch and exactly what epic Fenty Beauty drop is going to rinse our pay cheque next, it's the skincare innovations affecting our long term health that we're really interested in.

Kicking 2018 off with an industry first is our go-to brand for all things sensitive skin, La Roche Posay. Why? Because they've only gone and developed a nail sticker that could help prevent skin cancer.

Yup, the innocuous looking tiny beige and blue sticker, called UV Sense, adheres to your thumbnail to help monitor your UV exposure for several weeks. It then indicates through a linked app on your phone when your exposure is elevated and therefore when you need to reapply sun cream. Smart, non?

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With exposure to the sun being a main factor in the development of skin cancer, not to mention it being the most common form of cancer in the UK, there's never been a better time to get serious about your sun care.

And it actually works.

Initial studies from a previous iteration of the UV Sense (My UV Patch) found that 34% of users applied sun cream more often, and 37% actually retreated to shady areas more regularly. Which means the ingenious sticker could help reduce rates of skin cancer significantly.

Better yet, the UV Sense uses battery-free wearable tech so there's no need to add yet another charger to your collection or worry about it turning itself off. YAS.

The only downside? Unless you're living stateside, you'll have to wait until 2019 for the global launch.

The upside? Progress is progress. Nice one science.