She was the 18th century celebrity who made men faint in awe of her beauty by her very presence. But her beauty - and her vanity - led to her demise as the lead-based make-up she insisted on plastering on daily resulted first in the loss of her looks, then deadly blood poisoning. Now the grand 7ft mirror in which Maria Gunning, the former Countess of Coventry, admired her stunning reflection has been auctioned off for more than £300,000. Labelled the first victim of vanity, Maria died aged 27 in 1760 after her love of make-up resulted in her untimely death. The 253-year-old mirror sold well above its estimate even though her condition meant she the society hostess used it for a matter of just months. A glorious George II giltwood overmantel design, it was bought for her by her husband The Sixth Earl of Coventry in 1759, who is said to have been so frustrated by his wife's love of make up that he would chase her around the dinner table with a handkerchief, trying wipe it from her face.
COULD this be the most distastrous wedding cake fail EVER? Most brides opt for a traditional tiered white wedding cake decorated with delicate pink roses and lace for their big day .
With luminous colours and alien- like features, these magical mushrooms look like they belong on another planet .
Meet the real-life Little Bo Peep - a young woman who spends her days tending to her four pet SHEEP .
This is the crazy art project that is going ballistic - placing a huge squishy 15ft red ball into tight spaces .
The aurora lights captured in Blair Nebraska, America - WITH electrifying purple and illuminous green brightening up the night sky, this is the rare moment a flash of 'sprite' lightening was captured on camera .
A mum who has hid behind the hair loss condition alopecia for the last 20 years has bravely revealed a secret compulsion to tear out her own hair that has tormented her since she was a child .
A little brown bear cub shows his doting mum that she is always on parent duty as he uses her as a scratching post .
IN a galaxy not so far away lies a magical display of lights that could be the latest image from NASA .
WELCOME to what could be the world's tallest TOTALLY wooden construction .
A mother-of-three who weighed almost 16st has revealed how she lost 7 .
A former food addict who had spent her whole life dreaming of romance shed an astonishing 12st 7lbs to experience love for the first time .