To discover more about the role that beauty products play in well-being, the FEBEA joined up with TNS-SOFRES to ask French people whether they feel fulfilled and why.
The intention is to repeat the survey annually to create a barometer of French society that will help beauty manufacturers understand their audience.
The headline finding was that 83 per cent of French people declared themselves to be fulfilled.
Looking into the meaning of the term the respondents pulled out three elements; taking things in hand, building through time and being in harmony with oneself and others.
Paradoxically, they tended to be less positive about their compatriots with only 25 per cent of respondents agreeing that French people in general were fulfilled.
The FEBEA put forward the distance between private and collective spheres as a possible explanation for this.
Factors behind fulfilment Turning to the driving forces behind fulfilment, the French identified love, friendship and family as the most important determining factors.
Beauty manufacturers may be disappointed to discover that appearance fell in the list of less important factors.
Other objective factors were also looked at in the analysis of the statistics.
Money and age were found to affect the figures although the impact was less pronounced than some would expect.
Young people were most likely to say they were fulfilled (95 per cent in the 18-24 age range) while seniors were less upbeat (76 per cent of those 65 and older).
Meanwhile 76 per cent of people living in households earning less than 800€ a month said they were fulfilled compared to 90 per cent in the €3000 plus bracket.
The FEBEA said the conclusion contradicts the idea that social pressure elevates the value of appearances and suggests that fulfilment doesn't rest on being beautiful and rich.
Name change The trade body recently changed its name from FIPAR (Le Fédération des Industries de la Parfumerie) to better reflect its position as a representative of both cosmetics and perfume companies.
It is also looking to open up dialogue with increasingly demanding consumers and has launched a website called www.parlonscosmetiques.com which displays information on formulation, labeling and manufacturing.