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.
A single woman, who was granted IVF funding on the NHS, finally has a baby after suffering three miscarriages .
A teenager bullied for having birthmarks all over her body now hopes to become a Hollywood actress to show girls that beauty comes from being unique .
A toddler has shrugged off death an incredible 10 times thanks to his parents who revive him with the kiss of life every two weeks .
FROM THE world famous Girl with a Pearl Earring painting to a jaguar in the grass, these incredible drawings are created from coloured ballpoint pens .
A doting seal smiles at her sweet little pup as she tickles its tummy on the beach .
TRYING their best to wriggle away, three adorable tiger cubs receive their health checks at Chester Zoo .
A mother-to be has told how she cannot go near an iPad in case she suffers another miscarriage due to her intense sensitivity to electromagnetic waves .
With no luck at the front of the bus, the deer runs around the center seats trying to escape through the window – THIS is the astonishing moment a DEER crashed through the front windshield of a bus before it went hysterically running around the vehicle .
PEACE and love filled the 1980’s Glastonbury fields as relaxed festival goers kicked back and soaked up the atmosphere .
A middle-aged couple from Somerset have developed a rather unusual hobby to occupy their time: writing to killers on death row .
Playing, splashing and generally messing around, these polar bears show they certainly have a soft spot for the water, and not just each other .
SITTING on a burning sofa unable to move, one man turns his terrifying dreams into reality .