New Year, New You

Don't reinvent the wheel! If it isn't broken, don't fix it!

So many women are afraid to change their "perfect" look because they feel that others will think they're being fake, crazy or decadent. But, it shouldn't be so. Think of how boring life would be without reinvention: Madonna is in her 50s and just as famous (and infamous) as she was when she was a brazen 20-something. Why? Because she's reinvented herself dozens of times! Some of her looks were definite misses, others were beyond compare; either way, her looks are memorable and have always kept us interested. Even if you're not an international celebrity, you should seize any opportunity to reinvent your look. It need not be a drastic change (reinvention is not necessarily a complete overhaul of everything you are, it's simply freshness): try new makeup, change the way you part your hair, add or subtract an inch from your hair's length, buy a shirt in a color you'd never imagine wearing and so on. The goal is to travel outside of your "normal" in order to unveil the unexpected.

Reinvention is a holistic process; it is the use of each and every minute of the life you've lived to make better decisions for your present and future. I'm not talking about leaving your family to move to a third-world country or shaving your head and tattooing every inch of available flesh -- those methods may be a bit too drastic -- I'm talking about rallying against boredom and keeping things interesting inside and out. As we approach the beginning of a New Year, let us resolve to be a little more daring and a little less predictable, not just to those around us but to ourselves, as well.

Want more? Take a look in our gallery below and see how Madonna's beauty look has evolved over the years.