Photo: Thinkstock

If having the wind in your hair and Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" cranked up on the radio is more appealing than baggage fees and stripping down to your socks for airport security, then an all-American road trip might be your best bet this summer.

But before you take off, you might want to know that hitting the highway might put at least half of you at risk—researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle, discovered that 52 percent of melanoma cases and 53 percent of Merkel cell carcinoma cases occurred on the left side of the body, or your driving side (as reported by Time.com).

Rolling the windows up doesn't necessarily keep you protected, says Heidi A. Waldorf, MD, director of laser and cosmetic dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. "UVB rays are blocked by the glass, but UVA rays still get through unless your windows have a special UVA coating." Bottom line: Even if you're not a truck driver on the road 365 days a year, before you buckle up, slather on a broad-spectrum sunscreen with at least an SPF of 30 during the spring and summer months (SPF 15 is adequate for the rest of the year), says Waldorf. Look for UVA protective ingredients like titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, avobenzone or mexoryl.

[Next, how choices you make can affect the acne you get]

Photo: Courtesy of Ettika.com

Sing-alongs. Color wars. A crush on the dreamy, older counselor. Just a few of the many things you might remember about summer camp. And then there was the inevitable end, when the bonfire smell would be washed out of your clothes, but the one thing that remained to remind you of the close bonds you made with your bunkmates was a friendship bracelet. Revive the tradition and gift your current circle with the grown-up versions we found on Ettika.com (they range in price from $26 to $36 per bracelet)—some of the designs even incorporate crystals and charms that you'd be hard-pressed to find in the arts-and-crafts cabin. While tradition states that you're supposed to wear a friendship bracelet until it falls apart, these come with a bead that allows you to slip them on and off minus the scissors. We won't tell anyone if you temporarily break the bonds of friendship for a Monday meeting with your boss.

While good friends will forever be the best accessories, what do you think about these? Would you wear them?

Photo: Todd Porter and Diane Cu

The sweet, little, red berries hitting greenmarkets right now look nothing like those freakishly large, hard, white-on-the-inside berries sold in supermarkets during the rest of the year. Now's the time to enjoy them, and chef and strawberry lover Cristina Ferrare has a ton of ideas. Her Strawberry Pie and Strawberry Shortcake (pictured) are both dazzling crowd-pleasers, and if you aren't up for doing some baking, she has plenty of simple suggestions for incorporating strawberries into breakfasts and snacks.

Photo: Thinkstock

Having a bad day? Avoid the pet store on your way home (unless you're ready to adopt something furry), and don't even think of swinging by the Carpet Emporium. As we all know from childhood weep fests with Mr. Bear-Bear, rotten moods make us reach for something soft, warm and fluffy. A new study in The Journal of Consumer Research helps explain why—and also shows how negative states make us susceptible to buying things that satisfy our tactile cravings. In a series of five experiments involving hand lotion and mood inducement, researchers at the University of Florida found that participants in a negative state were more responsive to the way the lotion felt than to the way the package looked, and that they derived more pleasure than the positive-mood participants to the feel of the lotion on their hands. 

[After the jump, the explanation behind the study, plus five things that are comforting to touch that are not George Clooney]

Photo: Chicken Charlie's

"Chicken" Charlie Boghosian, an aficionado of all things deep-fried who brought us the deep-fried Oreo, the deep-fried avocado and other wonders, has now combined Kool-Aid and deep-fried dough to rave reviews at the San Diego County Fair. These fried treats—made from a batter of flour, water and Kool-Aid—look like hot pink doughnut holes (and apparently they taste like them too) and have become the talk of the fair. Last weekend, Boghosian sold in the neighborhood of 500 five-ball orders per day. He's gone through 150 pounds of Kool-Aid powder and 1,500 pounds of flour to make about 9,000 Kool-Aid balls.

State and county fairs seem to serve as laboratories for fried foods. Remember Oprah and Gayle's trip to the State Fair of Texas? Take a trip down a crispy, powdered sugar–dusted memory lane with this slide show of some of the fair's most bizarre fried foods.

Photo: Thinkstock

I don't remember exactly where I first encountered the jet hand dryer, but I remember the elation I felt as I dipped my hands into the machine and felt the hot air currents whipping against them from both sides. This was the way that Judy Jetson would dry her hands, I thought, just before she presented them to a robot manicurist with an air gun of instant-dry lacquer. These dryers of the future seemed infinitely more advanced than the classic heat dryers, with their droopy nozzles and damp power buttons, and light-years away from paper towels. At last, a way to stay clean and save trees!

Imagine my dismay when I read in this month's O magazine that jet dryers actually increase the amount of bacteria on users' hands—it's because the air inside isn't exactly sterile. Even worse, the dryers blast bacteria all over the restroom (and presumably, those inside), "spewing germs more than six feet." After reading this, the jet dryer morphed in my mind from a futuristic time saver to a potential weapon of germ warfare. O writer Ramona Emerson explains that the superiority of jet dryers is actually a myth. The hand-drying researcher whose work she cites says that paper towels are more sanitary, but this still doesn't solve my eco-dilemma.

Here's an idea: We could take a cue from the Japanese, who have taken hand drying (among many other things) to a new level. Many public washrooms in Japan lack towels or dryers, and it is common for Japanese people to carry small, personal hand towels or handkerchiefs (okay for drying your hands, but not for blowing your nose). The towels are so ubiquitous that there's even a museum dedicated to them. By tucking my own little reusable towel in my purse, I'll at least be able to keep my germs to myself. But I admit: I'll miss the roar of the jets.

To learn the facts behind 5 more surprising health myths, see this story in the July issue of O

When it comes to fashion trends, we all make mistakes. Some uh-oh moment flashbacks: harem pants, retro tube tops, the head-to-toe designer logo trend. This summer’s jumpers might not be the easiest thing to wear, what with the bra problem (to wear or not to wear?) and shorts that are just a tad too short. But jumper are fun and flirty, and ideal for summer bike riding or...a tennis match?

Today, the San Francisco Chronicle reviewed the jumper that Venus Williams wore at Wimbledon describing it as “open in the back and generally unwieldy” and remarking that “it brought to mind togas, or hospital gowns.” Then and only then did the paper mention her 6-3, 6-1 victory over Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan.

Photo: Getty Images

Not to be picky, because Williams clearly dresses to get attention, but does the message for women so often have to be: clothes first, achievement second? This woman has won 43 major tennis singles titles, 18 doubles titles, and earned over 27 million in prize money. She can wear a naked-looking bloomers if she wants. Oh wait....she already did that.

The jumper looked pretty elegant to us, except from the back where things got a little low cut (note to self: remember to look behind you in the dressing room).  But at the end of the day, women who know how to risk are usually women who know how to win.

Besides, a certain other woman close to our heart has risked a little fashion ire—and lived to laugh about it. 

It's Wednesday: time to splurge on a little something for you.

Grow Your Own Mushroom Garden, $19.95. Cut an opening in the box, mist the soil--made from recycled coffee grounds--twice daily, and within two weeks, you’ll have a pound and a half of oyster mushrooms, ready for stir-frying.

Mattese Elite Happy Hour Nail Polish Collection, $5.99 each. It's cocktail time--for your nails. Paint all 10 with a bright shade that smells like your favorite summer drink. The best part: No hangover.

Tatcha Blotting Papers, $12 for 15 papers. Soak up excess oil with these handmade Japanese blotting papers flecked with gold. Bonus: One sheet is big enough to de-shine your entire face.

TOMS Sunglasses, $135. TOMS shoes now has a sunglasses line as part of their One for One campaign. They donate a pair of eyeglasses for every pair of sunglasses purchased. (We personally love the stripes.)