Saturday Spin: Dangers of Skin Lightening Creams, Super Foods, and Celebrities Admit Plastic Surgery Regrets

We've scoured the Net for this week's Saturday Spin picks worthy of your time. You'll learn about 10 smoothies for perfect skin, the dangers of skin lightening creams, why environmental issues should matter to women, 9 super foods for mind and body, what's great about grapefruit and celebrities who regret plastic surgery.

10 Smoothies for Perfect Skin (Recipes)

From: Total Beauty

Ashley Koff, R.D., a celebrity dietitian and author of "Mom Energy," says every woman can benefit from firing up the ol' blender. "Smoothies are a great way to get all of the nutrients you need for beautiful skin in just one drink," says Koff. "Even better, since they're so easy to make and take with you, they can replace the junky, highly-processed fast food that's so bad for your skin."

Health officials warn skin lightening creams from outside US can be hazardous

From: The Grio

Some African-Americans and people of color around the world use skin lightening creams to bleach their skin and fade dark spots. Yet officials are finding that particular skin lightening creams from outside the U.S. can be very dangerous, because people have reported getting mercury poisoning from these products.

Why a Women’s Organization

From: Women's Voices for Earth

Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE) defines the environment as the places people live, work and play. It is estimated that between 80,000 and 85,000 chemicals are in use in the environment in United States, yet only about 200 of these chemicals have been tested for safety. Of those chemicals that have been tested, most have been evaluated only for their acute impacts to adult males in industrial settings. The chemical exposure routes and health impacts on women – especially girls, women of color and women of reproductive age – are different and have historically been largely overlooked.

9 Superfoods for a Beautiful Mind and Body

From: Mind Body Green

Here are nine superfoods which will sharpen your "Brain-Beauty" connection. Of course just about every bright colored fruit and vegetable falls into the "super for you" category along with nuts, beans, seeds, herbs and spices. A beautiful mind and body requires an overarching approach focusing on the consumption of more of the right foods that can lower or help regulate blood sugar levels; preventing diabetes, obesity, wrinkles, and other lifestyle diseases.

Celebrities Admit Their Plastic Surgery Regrets

From: iVillage

Lisa Rinna once said that her silicone-enhanced upper lip “made me who I am.” So why did the former Melrose Place star and Dancing With the Stars alum undergo a painful lip reduction in 2010? Rinna, 47, says that her first lip surgery ended badly: After two decades, the hardening silicone and scar tissue put ugly bumps in her perfect pout. Although Rinna says she’s happy with the reduction -- "My lip has no lumps! It's smooth," she raved after the procedure -- the change required 42 corrective stitches in her lip. (Youch!) Her new lips even drew praise on Celebrity Apprentice from Donald Trump, who announced in the boardroom during the March 13 episode that he liked her lips "a lot better now than I did a year ago” and telling her "You are so much more beautiful.” Then he fired her.

What's Great About Grapefruit

From: Huffington Post

Oatmeal isn't the only heart-friendly breakfast: Enjoying one grapefruit a day can help lower "bad" LDL cholesterol levels by 15.5 percent and triglycerides by 27 percent, according to a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Natural Lipsticks Like Burt’s Bees Can Still Contain Lead

From: Bliss Tree

Yesterday, I mistakenly told you that Burt’s Bees made lead-free lipstick. Um, psych? Some of its lip shimmers were among the highest in lead of the 400 lipsticks tested by the FDA, but assuming the brand is safe is an easy mistake: It’s known for being all-natural and associated with an eco-friendly, organic lifestyle. Why would we worry? But it’s not the only natural or organic brand on the FDA’s lead list.

See you next week!