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 teenage girl nicknamed 'spotty dog' by school bullies has embraced the hundreds of birthmarks that cover her entire face and body .
An elegant snowy owl spreads her wings and glides effortlessly above the snow covered field .
Daniel Blore, 21, of Innage Crescent, Bridgnorth, stabbed his mother three times in the attack on January 11 this year, Stafford Crown Court heard .
DIVING boffins fired harpoons into 30-foot-long whale sharks in a bid to put the sea-beasts on Google Maps .
HIDING behind its flipper, this little seal comes over a little camera shy .
An adorable orangutan named Pongo celebrates his first birthday at Zoo Atlanta, Georgia, America .
WENDY Randall, 16, from Kent is now training to be a bodybuilder after recovering from anorexia .
HOTSPOT MEDIA - EVANDER HOLYFIELD VISITS SICK KIDS: Evander Holyfield in Birmingham children's hospital, where he was giving presents to sick kids .
A woman with a rare condition that means she collapses every time she laughs fears she may have passed the rare illness onto her young son .
Swimming side by side with divers, these manatees will do anything they can to stay warm .
A woman has revealed how cruel bullies taunted her daily at school, calling her names like 'pig nose' and 'no nose' .