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.
ALL IS not as it seems in these deceptive cityscapes .
A Cheryl Fernandez-Versini lookalike has slammed skinny-shamers, after seeing her celebrity doppelganger abused for her tiny frame .
Gigantic 100ft waves create the perfect playground for dare-devil surfers from across the world .
A woman has taken her house back in time - by spending £10,000 to transform it into her Victorian dream home .
What lies beneath this building site? Britain's great hope of winning the pre-WW2 arms race against Nazi Germany .
A woman has told how her addiction to eating bath bubbles during her pregnancy was better than SEX .
A woman has been left scarred for life after a botched eye lift burnt her eyelids .
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 .
Throwing a right hook as he launches onto his opponent with his gnarling teeth at the ready, this is the OTTER-LY ruthless showdown between two otters .
Balanced on one leg, a frog assumes the crane kick martial arts stance made famous in the movie The Karate Kid .