As the winter months approach, what’s a girl to do to protect herself against unsightly dry skin? If only she could have her own personal skin expert on hand to tell her how best to hydrate her epidermis.

But wait, help is at hand in the form of a handy plastic pink stick. Called Bihada Kantei (literally, Beautiful Skin Expert) and developed by Bandai in association with Fancl, the device is purported to check the levels of moisture in your skin and aimed at beauty-conscious women in their 20s. After answering a few questions about the state of your skin, like “Are you wearing any makeup?” the sensor is pressed to the face for one minute after which it gives the user an assessment ranging from 1,000 (stick a paper bag over your flaky face) to 10,000 (luscious beauty).

If your moisture content is found wanting, the device dishes out some useful advice to help you rehydrate those parched skin cells. You can also do a follow-up check that will display a chart. We’re wondering whether the advice given includes a hearty endorsement of Fancl products such as “Quick! Buy our Emergency Skin Repair Rehydrating Cream before your face cracks open into an unsightly open sore!”

Available in stores from Nov. 30