Dame Helen opts for a flattering red swimsuit after her purple faux pas

She certainly boasts an impressive collection of beachwear.

And this time it was an all-in-one Baywatch-style swimsuit for Dame Helen Mirren as she frolicked in the evening surf.

The sensational red bikini she sported last summer appears to have remained at the bottom of her suitcase.

Cutting a fine figure: Helen Mirren enjoys the surf in Hawaii

But her latest effort was definitely an improvement on the rather frumpy halter-neck tankini she opted for earlier this week.

With her hair dripping wet and fading tan, Miss Mirren, 63, looked virtually unrecognisable from the stunning figure she cut in Italy in July.

However, as she took to the beach again in Hawaii yesterday (Mon) during a break from shooting her latest film, she proved it was only a temporary lapse.

With just a little help from her garment, which held everything in, she sported an almost flat stomach.

Red hot: Mirren is in Hawaii filming a new movie adaptation of The Tempest

And the setting sun clearly played a part in giving her a healthy glow.

But there was certainly no repeat of the rather stumbling performance she gave on Sunday during a snorkelling trip. This time, she walked with hands on hips and chest out.

'Helen looked great,' said one onlooker. 'She certainly still knows how to turn heads on the beach.

'Women much younger than her would be proud to have a figure like hers.'

Mirren's husband Taylor Hackford is also out in Hawaii with the star.

The Oscar-winning actress is currently working on six different projects. Her latest is a an alternative version of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Quite a difference: Dame Helen didn't look quite so glamorous in purple (L) over the weekend as she did in her red bikini in July (R)

Helen Mirren Once More unto the beach at 63 in another Colourfull Bikini

When she was pictured looking sensational in a red bikini this summer, Helen Mirren insisted that the image was too good to be true.

Yesterday, with her hair dripping wet, she looked a little more like a woman of 63.

The Oscar-winning British actress was pictured while snorkelling in Hawaii. The red swimsuit had been replaced with a less flattering halter-neck two-piece while her tan had faded and she was wearing no make-up.

Purple patch: Helen Mirren shows off her figure in a halter neck bikini as she snorkels off the beach in Hawaii

Dame Helen takes a dip in the Hawaiian waters

The initial picture - taken near her Italian holiday home in July --had surprised even Dame Helen herself. She said of it: 'I am beyond the bikini-wearing age, really. I wouldn't normally wear one.

'The truth is I don't really look that good. I look like a woman in her 60s. I've always looked awful in a bikini, even when I was younger.'

Dame Helen, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her title role in The Queen in 2006, is busier than ever and working on six different film projects. She is in Hawaii filming an alternative version of Shakespeare's The Tempest

Helen in that bikini in July in Italy...