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 mum-of-one has revealed how her one-year-old daughter suffered second and third degree burns to 22% of her body after pouring boiling water over herself .
HUNDREDS of colour coordinated yarns lie abandoned in this once thriving textile mill .
A woman has told how she fled to Australia, after a one night stand burned down her house .
An American woman whose skin turned silver after using nose drops is warning people of the dangers of medicines containing the metal .
A woman has revealed how she left her husband of 24 years, after falling in love with a man, 18 years her junior .
A woman whose daughter committed suicide after being raped as a child, has revealed she donated her organs - saving four peoples’ lives .
A woman has lost an incredible 13st after a group of men cruelly threw a kebab at her as she walked down the street .
SPARKLING bright inside their box, it’s hard to believe these diamonds are made from the cremated remains of the deceased .
A woman who had three botched nose jobs finally feels pretty after forking out £8 .
Aged 27, I was swept off my feet by my gorgeous husband, Lee, now 42 .
The family of a disabled boy who died in a tragic accident at a care home have received a four figure payout after an inquest heard carers allowed him to fall rather than restrain him because of "health and safety" fears .
This is the amazing moment two white-tailed kites take an in-flight meal - exchanging prey at 100 foot high in mid air .