The EPC Academy, the Art of Creating a Fragrance Made Simple
2023 . 05 . 25 |
Emmanuelle Moeglin founded the 'Experimental Perfume Club’ to make perfumery widely accessible. Her academy is based on the concept of learning while experimenting.
I was adamant to catch up with Emmanuelle at Esxence this year as I wanted to be kept abreast of the robust expansion of her perfumery academy since we last spoke three years ago. The news was bigger than what I expected as her business is significantly thriving. I think the best way to picture her buoyant activity is by extracting key figures.
Let us start with the facts.
5 years of business.
2 curriculum types, in person workshops, and digital learning.
5 workshops a month.
700 people attend workshops annually.
100 students take online courses every year.
4 continents for students’ origins.
3 levels of digital perfumery courses.
1 year for digital course completion.
3 teachers.
50% of sales come from the Academy. 50% of sales from fragrances.
19 fragrances.
2 perfume collections.
1 fragrance winner of the 2022 Fragrance Foundation Awards.
Performing the Art of Making Fragrances Made Accessible
The impressive numbers of the EPC fact sheet outline the importance of the Academy. Now, it is time to dive into understanding how it works. First, there is no admission selection, the curriculum is open to everybody, professionals, or private people alike. Second, the fees are quite affordable in comparison to other available options. The half-day in person sessions in Covent Garden have become well known by Londoners so that there is a 2-month usual waiting time. The online digital curriculum trainings reach out to an audience completely international with a lively and cosmopolitan Facebook group to make alumni bond together. No matter how diverse the student’s profile is, different geography, age, or work, one common thing is shared by all, and it is the passion for perfumes. The teaching methodology, curriculum content and toolkit excel at sharing the knowledge of an expert perfumer in a simple way. A token of this success is illustrated by the fact that all digital courses students pass the final examination test. The program excellence is demonstrated by the completion end-results.
The Academy Promotes a Perfume Democracy Based on Accessibility.
Emmanuelle left France and never looked back. In London she feels free to share her passion for perfumes and to teach perfumery with a unique concept ‘Learn. Create. Play’.
These three sequences make the success of her academy. Her learning approach is based on experimenting, playing with prime ingredients, and progressing at one’s pace, while using professional and structured techniques. With her unique method, every single student manages to create fragrances that work. The more successful the classes, the more limited the initial EPC location, by appointment only, in Northeast London became. So, Emmanuelle decided to move the ‘Experimental Perfume Club’ in the heart of London and open a boutique in Covent Garden. On the ground floor, clients are taken through the blending experience while the workshops take place in the lab in the basement. They are like a cooking class between 11 people, full of fun and experimentation.
Digitalization of Courses is Totally Achieved.
The comprehensive topics covered by the course imply a minimum of 3 months’ full-time work schedule. In real life, most students choose to do it part time and take up anything between 6 months to a year. The 14-hour videos courses have been meticulously and thoroughly developed in English, with English subtitles, the PDF downloaded texts carefully crafted, the booklets and exercises designed, to give students a clear, self-explanatory, and lively online course experience.
The digital class is also complemented by a Q&A tutoring live session twice a year with Emmanuelle for all enrolled students.
Key courses materials remain physical though and are sent by post to the address of the alumni, be it Europe, America, Middle East, or Asia. For the perfume foundation course, the perfumer’s handbook and the perfumer organ are the two masterpieces. The hardcover handbook is a 160-page illustrated text written by Emmanuelle and some fellow perfumers about the origins of ingredients, their provenance, and classification. Natural ingredients as well as aroma-chemicals are covered, and how they are used in fragrance formulation. The perfumer organ is a large kit composed of 91 ingredients, a tray and all the laboratory equipment needed to create a formula for no less than a total of 10 kilos (or 221lbs).
The EPC Academy Offers a Three Level Curriculum.
The foundation class covers a beefy 34 lessons across 6 modules touching on different formats of perfume creation: skincare, candles, legislation, and method of extraction. Once that is completed, one moves to chapter 2 and its 22 lessons across 3 modules. Finally, chapter 3 contains 21 lessons across 3 modules. Surely, Emmanuelle will carry on releasing updates and add-ons.
A Happy and Knowledge-Rich Teaching Trio.
Three experienced perfumers have put their minds together to guide the student into a step-by-step journey, with practical demos, how-to videos, tutorials, and olfactory sessions, in addition to theory lessons. Emmanuelle has partnered with Tom Jansen, a Canadian, multi- entrepreneur, owner of a candle and perfume brand, expert perfumer from Afso. She also reached out to Camille Latron, perfumer from Isipca, who worked at Puig, now independent, to complete the course.
Certification at Completion of the Curriculum.
Students can evaluate their learning progress with tests that are included in the program. Quizzes and certification are offered at completion of each chapter. The EPC Academy has also been certified by the Continuous Program Development (CPD), a well-established official program in place in the UK.
Student Stories are Full of Positive Experiences.
As a perfectionist, Emmanuelle relentlessly wants to improve her curriculum so that she is very touched when students share their positive appreciation of the courses. The web site is full of superlative comments, I have chosen one of them:
‘Experimental Perfumery Club offers one of the best perfumery training programs in the world today, in my opinion. It covers the basic and advanced methods to help students to learn perfumery effectively. The founder, Emmanuelle, who is one of the few perfumers, is passionate for sharing her knowledge and professional experience in this field’. Connie (USA)
At Esxence this year, Emmanuelle was also delighted to see some of her alumni showcasing their new perfume brand like Mabelle O’rama who also won with her Luna Dust perfume an honorary award nomination at the Art & Olfaction Awards.
Internationalization is the Ambition of EPC.
The Academy is growing nicely and steadily, Emmanuelle presently wants to tackle the retail expansion of her perfume brand. Her perfume collection features two lines, the Essential line, and the Signature Blends. Her award-winning fragrances are designed to be worn alone or blended together to create a personalized scent. All the scents are unisex, vegan, cruelty-free, and using eco-refillable packaging. Being London based now, she wishes to expand internationally, in Europe and further afield.