SOAK UP THE SUN WITHOUT DAMAGING YOUR SKIN
4 Tips for Happy Summertime Skin
Summer is a wonderful time of year for your health. The warm weather encourages outdoor activities, and the vitamin D produced by sunlight can boost your mood. Unfortunately, sunshine can also do a number on your skin. Here are a few tips to protect your skin while having fun in the sun. Don’t forget the sunscreen! People of all complexions should wear sunscreen every day. Even if you aren’t at the beach, harsh sunlight can still damage your skin when you’re walking around or driving your car. Dermatologists recommend applying sunscreen with SPF 30 first thing in the morning and reapplying periodically through the day.
long as they’re used as directed.” So read the directions and enjoy a great summer tan while keeping your skin safe. Take cool showers. Hot showers are relaxing, but they also dry out your skin, especially in the
heat of summer. Do your skin a favor and turn down the temperature. As a bonus, taking a cool shower after sweating can reduce acne breakouts.
Stay hydrated. Hydrated skin is happy skin, so keep a water bottle handy. Start by swapping a sugary beverage at mealtime with a glass of water instead. Another healthy way to get extra water is by snacking on fresh fruits and vegetables. Certain summer fruits, like melons, have high water content and are full of vitamins your body craves.
Pro Tip: Don’t put the sunscreen away when it gets cold. The sun is still harmful in the winter months.
Want a tan? Go sunless! Though popular, that “sun-kissed” look is actually a sign of skin damage caused by harmful UV rays. If your summer look just isn’t complete without a tan, consider using a sunless tanning product. The Mayo Clinic states, “Topical sunless tanning products are generally considered safe alternatives to sunbathing, as
There’s a lot to love about the summertime. With these tips, your skin can love it too.
BIRD
Cove Family Dentistry wanted to be in a great location for our patients. It just so happens that we’re also in a great location for birds! All day, we’re able to look out our office windows and spot many different species of birds. This month, we’re watching the wood thrush. One of the most unique sounds you’ll hear around our office this summer is the strange melody of our wood thrushes singing in the trees. Like most songbirds, female wood thrushes don’t sing, but a male wood thrush can have a dozen different song patterns. The flute-like lilt is so moving that, after hearing a wood thrush singing, Henry David Thoreau once said, “Whenever a man hears it he is young, and Nature is in her spring; wherever he hears it, it is a new world and a free country, and the gates of Heaven are not shut against him.” A migratory bird, wood thrushes only spend the spring and summer here in North America. They arrive in April to mate and raise their young before returning to Central America in late August. You might be able to spot this brown- and white-spotted bird around the nearby woodlands over the next couple of weeks. The haunting song of the wood thrush is a cherished feature of forests in the eastern United States, but this melody is at risk of disappearing forever. Since 1966, the wood thrush population has declined by 50%. This is due to forest fragmentation, acid rain, and deforestation destroying their natural habitats. Today, wood thrushes are considered “near threatened” and continue to disappear at a rate of 1.8% per year. Wood thrushes have become the symbol of the decline of neotropical songbirds of North America, but not all hope is lost. There are numerous conservation efforts to help save not just the wood thrush but all migratory birds of America. You can learn more on the American Bird Conservancy website at ABCBirds.org/ wood-thrush_help-protect-tropical-forests/. THE WOOD THRUSH’S MAGICAL MELODY
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