MADONNA is back to her best, just a week after she was photographed looking pale and haggard.

Seven days is long time if you're the Queen of Pop, and have enough money in the bank to have every wrinkle, and bulge nipped tucked and straightened.

On the same day New York magazine published claims the Material Girl has undergone a US$30,000 cosmetic treatment on her face, our snaps show Madonna on July 27th looking drawn, pale and weak; and then again a week later, with clean and clear skin and her sparkle well and truly back.

The singer, who turns 50 on 16 August, has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks. After allegations she was splitting from husband Guy Ritchie because of an affair with baseball player Alex Rodriguez, one tabloid claimed Madonna had been diagnosed with anaemia and ordered to rest.

It seems a little rest - and perhaps the help of a surgeon - have made all the difference.