At the age of 15, she “accidentally” finished first in a modeling competition. We say “accidentally” because Adriana Lima never once considered being a model although she was the talk of the many beauty pageants that she had won in elementary school. By accident, or rather, by chance, she accompanied her friend to enter a modeling contest and the contest sponsor asked only her to come out for the competition.
She entered, and won first place. It was Ford’s “Supermodel of Brazil” model search.
Soon after, she signed on with Elite Model Management in New York City and before she could even blink, she was walking down a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show runway in 1999. A year later, Adriana Lima was officially contracted as the much desired role of a Victoria’s Secret Angel and continued to appear in the subsequent shows. This included opening for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2010.
In 2008, she unveiled the Victoria’s Secret “Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra”for the lingerie extravaganza. The bra was set with 3,575 black diamonds, 117 certified 1 carat (200 mg) white round diamonds, 34 rubies, and two black diamond drops totaling 100 carats (20 g), and was valued at over USD5 million (RM15.5 million).
Two years later, for the second time, she was once again chosen to wear the lingerie giant’s “Bombshell Fantasy Bra” for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2010, worth an astounding USD2 million (RM6.2 million). It consisted of more than 3,000 brilliant cut white diamonds (60 carats in total), light blue sapphires, and oval-shaped topazes (another 82 carats), which are all set in 18 karat white gold.
And really, it’s one thing to “feel like a million bucks” but, a several million bucks?
Twice?
As if that wasn’t enough, Adriana Lima was also once picked to host the “What is Sexy?” program for “E! Entertainment Network”.
But of course, she never really knew what “sexy” really was until year 2009, when her little “Valentine” came late in the year. On the 15th of November, Valentina Lima Jarić was born. And today, Adriana Lima talks about how motherhood has changed her and made her “sexier”!
“It is with taking on the role of motherhood that now I finally know what unconditional love is. My bundle of joy, Valentina, really taught me the real meaning of life. I feel like a new person. More confident, more patience, and more open to people.”
“Valentina is my priority. I want to be a good mother, and I want to give the best for her. So, I give as much time as I could possibly do for her. Even leaving her asleep in her room makes me feel guilty!. She’s growing really fast and I want to enjoy my moments with her.”
“She has also started talking more and right now, she understands three languages, Portugese, English, and Sebian. I took her to a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show rehearsal with me and she had a blast. She even walked on the runway!”
“Honestly, after Valentina, I’m more at peace with myself. I can’t explain what sexiness really is but it’s all about attitude. Sexiness, for me, is about embracing yourself, and embracing who you really are. If you’re funny, if you’re clumsy, embrace it!”
“During pregnancy, it was great. Motherhood was the best thing that happened to my life and has done wonders for me. Physically, I felt more beautiful. I feel much more beautiful, sexier, and more womanly. In fact, I think even my hair and my skin is much better now!”
Hey, that’s not fair! Isn’t being chosen to be a Victoria’s Secret Angel already sexy? But we’ll take her word for it. After all, she was ranked as the world’s fourth highest paid supermodel for more than a handful of good reasons!
