Adriana Lima ;Brazilian Portuguese born June 12, 1981) is a Brazilian
model and actress who is best known as a Victoria's Secret Angel since
2000, and as a spokesmodel for Maybelline cosmetics from 2003 to 2009.
At the age of 15, Lima finished first in Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil"
competition, and took second place the following year in the Ford
"Supermodel of the World" competition before signing with Elite Model
Management in New York City. In 2012, she came in 4th on the Forbes
top-earning models list, estimated to have earned $7.3 million in one
year. In 2013, she came in 3rd place and in 2014 she came in 2nd place
with earnings of $8 million.Lima never thought about being a model,
although she had won many beauty pageants in elementary school.However,
she had a friend at school who wanted to enter a modeling contest and
did not want to enter alone, so Lima entered with her. Both sent in
pictures, and the contest sponsor soon asked Lima to come out for the
competition. Soon after, at the age of 15, she entered and finished in
first place in Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil" model search. She
subsequently entered the 1996 Ford "Supermodel of the World" contest and
finished in second place. Three years later, Lima moved to New York
City and signed with