Photography via Instagram/@jastookes

We Chat With Jasmine Tookes About Life as a Victoria’s Secret Angel and Creating a Makeup Line One Day

Date August 17, 2018

What does a day in the life look like for a Victoria’s Secret Angel? For Jasmine Tookes, it has to include some reality TV–when it’s time to relax, of course. Before that, it’s early morning shoots, hair and makeup and lots of travel.

Exercise is also a huge part of the lifestyle. “Having a buddy really helped with that,” Tookes says. “Some days, you’re down and you don’t want to go to the gym, but if your girlfriend calls you, like Josephine [Skriver] for example, you kind of have to say yes. It becomes a bit of a competition, but a fun competition.”

For Tookes, exercise is all about feeling strong and she credits weight training for creating definition and strength. In fact, Skriver and Tookes even have a shared Instagram account dedicated to their fitness journey, @joja.

Tookes notes that one of the best parts of being an Angel has been building those types of relationships with the other models, “Some of them have become my best friends now, so it’s really nice just to be able to bond with a group of beautiful girls.”

Another amazing perk? The jet-setting. “I think the best part of my job is getting to travel to some of the most beautiful destinations that most people probably wouldn’t get the chance to go to,” she says. But at the same time, the constant travel can be a double-edged sword. Planning time with family can be tricky when you get a call and need to jet off to Europe the next day. “My lifestyle is so up and down and things happen last minute so it’s hard to plan any trips or anything,” she says. “But there are sacrifices you make with any job and I just try to work with it.”

Tookes’ family has been one of her biggest support systems. “Since day one I was always doing fashion shows for my mom,” she says. Tookes’ mom, Cary Robinson, is a celebrity stylist. “She knew that this was always what I wanted to do.”

But modeling aside, Tookes has a second passion: makeup. “My next goal, for sure, is to have my own beauty line,” she says, mentioning how incredible it was when Rihanna came out with Fenty Beauty. “My go-to makeup look is always really glowy and then beautiful skin. And I love eyebrows.” She notes that brows are the one thing you should take care of before leaving the house.

Favourite products include Victoria’s Secret lip stains, which she loves for their versatility, “You can just throw them on, use it as a lipstick or even put it on your cheeks.” Nars is another brand favorite.

As a highly successful model, Tookes is constantly getting her makeup done by professionals and she’s picked up a lot of tips over the years. “I think the best tip I’ve learned from a makeup artist is to never put too much powder. Sometimes it doesn’t translate too well in the daytime,” she says. “Use a light powder and only on your T-zone, not all over your whole face, so you can keep those glowy points.”

Two years ago, Tookes had a “dream come true” moment on stage at the Victoria’s Secret Runway Show. Since 1996, the Fantasy Bra has been an event staple and Tookes became the third black model to wear the luxury piece–her’s was worth over three million dollars. In terms of diversity, she thinks things are getting a lot better. “Now, the industry embraces a lot more body types and ethnicities and I think that’s really important because not many girls growing up felt like they could be a model or be an actress,” she says. “I commend the fashion industry for taking that step.”

As for her Fantasy Bra moment two years ago? She’s still not over it, “I look at pictures and I’m like ‘Wait, that’s me?'”. But with so much under her belt already and a bright future ahead of her (including lots of amazing makeup, we hope!) she’ll just have to get used to seeing herself shine.