She was a Victoria's Secret Angel [ 6 ] from to She is also known as a spokesmodel for Maybelline cosmetics since , and for her Super Bowl and Kia Motors commercials. Lima is currently ranked by models. Lima has served as brand ambassador for the clothing brand Desigual based in Barcelona, Spain, for the Beachwear collection of Italian brand Calzedonia , and for the ready-to-wear collection of Italian brand Sportmax.
Lima was born on 12 June in Salvador, Bahia , Brazil. She has stated that prior to starting modelling, she had wanted to pursue a career as a paediatrician. Lima speaks four languages: her native Portuguese , English , Italian , and Spanish. Lima never thought about being a model, although she had won many beauty pageants in elementary school.
Both sent in pictures, and the contest sponsor soon asked Lima to come out for the competition. Soon after, at age 15, she entered and finished in first place in Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil" model search. She subsequently entered the Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest and finished in second place. Her first magazine cover was Marie Claire Brazil in September She also appeared in the book A Second Decade of Guess?
Lima continued to build upon her portfolio, doing more print work for Maybelline , for whom she has worked as a spokesmodel since to Also in the same year, she appeared in the company's first calendar and did an ad campaign for Swatch. Her April GQ cover was the highest-selling issue of that magazine for the year. In , Lima ranked as the fifth highest paid supermodel. Between and , she ranked as the world's fourth highest paid supermodel by Forbes Magazine.
In , she again fronted the cover of GQ, this time attracting a record number of visits to the publication's website. She also appeared in the Pirelli Calendar and became the face of Italy's cell phone carrier, Telecom Italia Mobile , a move that earned her the nickname, "the Catherine Zeta-Jones of Italy.
