Many of you have sent me P.M's about the whole process, about what it takes, and the type of knowledge required to become a Fragrance Certified Sales Specialist. I recieved the results yesterday and I myself am officially a F.C.S.S. So i'll try to give as much information about what it is and the benefits and all.
The title of F.C.S.S. is given out by The Fragrance Foundation. The Fragrance Foundation was established in 1949 by six industry leaders associated with Elizabeth Arden, Coty, Guerlain, Helena Rubenstein, Chanel and Parfums Well. Their function was to enhance the image of the fragrance industry and expand the aprecciation and use of fragrance worldwide. The Fragrance Foundation are the people who made the "FiFi Awards." The F.C.S.S. is a very new title as it has been introduced only 6 years ago. Nonetheless the title is reckognized by all major houses and many niche houses today. There are roughly 6000 or so "fragrance experts" in the world today.
So whats the differance between a regular SA and a F.C.S.S.? One word, knowledge. The "fragrance expert" has a whole lot more knowledge than the regular SA. Not to say that there aren't knowledgable SA's out there but I'm just generally speaking. You learn where fragrance started. Who wore it. In terms of History, just a general knowledge and fun facts. You mainly learn though the statistics of sales and marketing, what clicks with differant age groups(this was extremely surprising to me), and why people buy what they buy. It also goes into depth of the differant ways to create a perfume; maceration, expression, headspace technology, etc. Oh and what a "Nose" is, what is required to become one. Of course whats inside fragrances(notes and all), and the history behind each of those notes which was quite mind boggling
So an F.C.S.S. essentially could hold up a great conversation(unless they have no personality of course) with us Basenoters and probably teach a whole lot too. I know when I would shop at lets say Macys or something I wouldnt want any help because I already knew more than the SA!
So here's some of the questions I remember from the test.
1) In the past 20 years what fragrance family has decreased in sales the most for MEN?
2) What percentage of women actually say they wear perfume?
3) What fragrance family has the lowest sales to date for both MEN and Women?
4) What is to "FIX" a pefume?
5) What famous figure in history demanded a differant fragrance everyday?
6) What was the first NAMED fragrance?
7) Whats the most economical way to make a fragrance?
8) What is Headspace technology?
9) If you were going to use neroli in a fragrance what method of fragrance making would you use?
10) Which ancient civilization were the first to create liquid perfume then bottle them in alabaster?
And those are the VERY VERY VERY EASY questions. I can't even explain to you the tough stuff they had, mainly because I was in trauma throughout the whole test because it was that tough. I'm now looking into the NEW ADVANCED CERTIFICATION which was introduced a month ago so I'm not eligible to take it till this winter or next year. This course pretty much helps you advance your sales but more importantly gives you the basic knowledge that apprentices taht want to become perfumers would know. Great if you plan on creating a fragrance one day. Though you have to be an F.C.S.S. to take that.
Anyway there you go. Hope that answers some of you questions. If you have anymore comment or PM me and I'll get back to you quickly as I'm here often. Here's a link to the site:
http://www.fragrance.org/
The title of F.C.S.S. is given out by The Fragrance Foundation. The Fragrance Foundation was established in 1949 by six industry leaders associated with Elizabeth Arden, Coty, Guerlain, Helena Rubenstein, Chanel and Parfums Well. Their function was to enhance the image of the fragrance industry and expand the aprecciation and use of fragrance worldwide. The Fragrance Foundation are the people who made the "FiFi Awards." The F.C.S.S. is a very new title as it has been introduced only 6 years ago. Nonetheless the title is reckognized by all major houses and many niche houses today. There are roughly 6000 or so "fragrance experts" in the world today.
So whats the differance between a regular SA and a F.C.S.S.? One word, knowledge. The "fragrance expert" has a whole lot more knowledge than the regular SA. Not to say that there aren't knowledgable SA's out there but I'm just generally speaking. You learn where fragrance started. Who wore it. In terms of History, just a general knowledge and fun facts. You mainly learn though the statistics of sales and marketing, what clicks with differant age groups(this was extremely surprising to me), and why people buy what they buy. It also goes into depth of the differant ways to create a perfume; maceration, expression, headspace technology, etc. Oh and what a "Nose" is, what is required to become one. Of course whats inside fragrances(notes and all), and the history behind each of those notes which was quite mind boggling
So an F.C.S.S. essentially could hold up a great conversation(unless they have no personality of course) with us Basenoters and probably teach a whole lot too. I know when I would shop at lets say Macys or something I wouldnt want any help because I already knew more than the SA!So here's some of the questions I remember from the test.
1) In the past 20 years what fragrance family has decreased in sales the most for MEN?
2) What percentage of women actually say they wear perfume?
3) What fragrance family has the lowest sales to date for both MEN and Women?
4) What is to "FIX" a pefume?
5) What famous figure in history demanded a differant fragrance everyday?
6) What was the first NAMED fragrance?
7) Whats the most economical way to make a fragrance?
8) What is Headspace technology?
9) If you were going to use neroli in a fragrance what method of fragrance making would you use?
10) Which ancient civilization were the first to create liquid perfume then bottle them in alabaster?
And those are the VERY VERY VERY EASY questions. I can't even explain to you the tough stuff they had, mainly because I was in trauma throughout the whole test because it was that tough. I'm now looking into the NEW ADVANCED CERTIFICATION which was introduced a month ago so I'm not eligible to take it till this winter or next year. This course pretty much helps you advance your sales but more importantly gives you the basic knowledge that apprentices taht want to become perfumers would know. Great if you plan on creating a fragrance one day. Though you have to be an F.C.S.S. to take that.
Anyway there you go. Hope that answers some of you questions. If you have anymore comment or PM me and I'll get back to you quickly as I'm here often. Here's a link to the site:
http://www.fragrance.org/
