This picture, of Madonna leaving a Kabbalah center in New York Friday, is the centerpiece of a story in Britain’s Daily Mail about whether the singer is uglifying herself, through excessive plastic surgery or other means. To a certain extent, one must make allowance for the fact that Madonna is caught here without makeup and at a time of great stress — her brother is writing a bitchy tell-all book, and there have been furious rumors in the press (denied as furiously) that the global celebrity is to divorce her husband and that she had a dalliance with Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez. And one must not forget that Madonna, 50 in August, is no spring chick. But it’s hard to look at the unnatural pucker of her lips and the size and musculature of her arms without wondering if the singer shouldn’t cut back on the four-hour-per-day gym workouts. Or to wonder whether she’s turning into Michael Jackson. After the jump, an opinion from a plastic surgeon and a picture showing more of Madonna’s arms.

Her swollen face renewed speculation that she is relying on more than yoga, the gym and a macrobiotic diet to ward off the effects of ageing.She has remained enigmatic on the subject of cosmetic surgery, saying: ‘I am certainly not against plastic surgery; however, I am absolutely against having to discuss it.’Harley Street plastic surgeon Angelica Kavouni said: ‘In my opinion, it is likely she has had filler in her cheeks because they are so full. There is no loose skin at the jawline which is also extremely unusual for someone her age. Typically, that is something we achieve through a lower facelift.’Nor does she have any loose skin around her eyes, which again is unusual.’She always had nice eyes and high cheekbones, so if anything has been done I think she’s trying to enhance her existing good parts and had some areas tightened.’

With makeup, at the Cannes film festival in May:

Actually, Madonna should get a lot more credit for her restraint. If I had arms like that and my own team of lawyers, I’d start a lot more fights. Especially with people alleging marital troubles and taking haggard pictures of me.

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(Photos via WENN)