Lise Watier

Born in Montréal in 1942, Lise Watier spent a happy childhood with loving parents. Taking her mother’s elegance and style as an example, she developed a passion for beauty, cosmetics and good taste from a young age.

While a 19-year-old classical education student at Collège Jésus-Marie, she caught a producer’s eye while accompanying a friend to an audition at Télé-Métropole (TVA). She landed a few commercials on the popular television station and then became the host of her own women’s interest show.

She immediately captured the audience’s attention with her segments dedicated to women. She soon became Quebec’s authority on beauty and women’s interests. Letters started to pour in from viewers asking the new TV star for advice.

Spurred on by this positive public reaction, in 1968 Lise Watier founded the Lise Watier Institute, a beauty and charm school that offered courses in makeup, self-esteem, personal and physical well-being and grooming. The institute was an overnight success.

Having a hard time finding products that were up to her standards, she decided to develop her own line of cosmetics, with an emphasis on research and development. In 1972, Lise Watier Cosmétiques opened its doors.

A true innovator in the world of cosmetology, Lise Watier developed products with new active ingredients that would be an immediate success in countries around the world. Today, her products are distributed mainly in Canada and the United States.

The fragrance Neiges and the innovative Age Control Supreme line are among Lise Watier Cosmétiques’ greatest sources of pride. Launched in 2011, the anti-aging skincare product was perfected through five years of research to develop an extraction process for Labrador tea, a new and exclusive ingredient found in the Canadian boreal forest.

A great philanthropist, Lise Watier uses her success to benefit causes for women and girls. In November 2009, she inaugurated the Lise Watier Foundation, with a mission to help women in need leave poverty behind them, regain their self-confidence and make a place for themselves in society. The Foundation also supports organizations across Canada that share its mission.

Lise Watier’s accomplishments as an entrepreneur and visionary have earned her many honours. She was named to the Order of Canada in 1991, named Businesswoman of the Year repeatedly by Leger Marketing between 1993 and 1998 and named an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec in 2000.

Lise Watier was inducted into the Academy of Great Montrealers in the Economic category in 2013 and was named a Commander of the Ordre de Montréal in 2016.