Beauty queen Lise Watier

Where does the name of your new fragrance, Désirable, come from?
"For me, desire represents the most exciting part of love. Before wanting to please, one wants to feel desired. Desire precedes conquest. It affects your senses and your mind. In my opinion, Désirable - into which I have put a lot of myself - is all of that."

You have been married to the same man for 20 years. What advice do you have about keeping desire alive?
"Everything depends on your partner. Some couples like to be playful, to abandon themselves completely or to resist. If a man is used to easy conquests, he will probably appreciate some resistance. For another man, the magical moment of that first meeting is enough to win him over - you don't have to pretend to be indifferent or unavailable. In the end, there is no magic formula."

You wanted to become a concert pianist but got into TV instead. How did that happen?
"At 18, I developed a terrible case of pleurisy [a lung disease], which totally bowled me over. I didn't have enough muscle strength left to play the piano! Another incident - this time, a fortunate one - led me into TV. I went with a friend who was auditioning for a commercial, and they chose me!"

How did your gig as a TV host prepare you for the beauty industry?
"I conquered my shyness and learned to not always aim for perfection. I saw what a huge effort that demands - and how it totally deprives you of spontaneity. TV was really therapeutic for me. I met a lot of women, and I wanted to understand them better."

Did that experience inspire you to open your first beauty institute?
"Definitely. I felt that by surrounding myself with specialists in clothing, beauty and lifestyle, I could find the answers to women's questions - questions that I, too, had. Also, I couldn't bear a director insinuating that I owed my success to him! So I opened my first institute, without having the slightest understanding of business. I wanted to help women come into their own. After all, you can learn to be a woman! Every time a student felt that magic, I felt that I had accomplished something, even if the days ended late in the evening."

Was that sense of duty sometimes a burden?
"Not at all. Not at that time! [Laughs.] I was so passionate. Only later did things become more complicated: financial woes, problems with the banks, near bankruptcy, a fire.... I overcame all those obstacles. Fortunately, I have also known success! I launched the makeup line and the first aloe vera products in 1972 -I was inspired after visiting Mexico, where aloe vera was considered a miracle healing plant. But my biggest coup has been the fragrance Neiges. It's my personal favourite, and it's still a top seller across Canada."

Image courtesy of Lise Watier