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Anna Sui Night of Fancy Eau de Toilette
by k444tmc
Like most, I recieved quite a number of new fragrences to try out from Christmas - and naturally couldn't wait to test them all so I could review for all of you - and also equally joyed that my new Anna Sui Night of Fancy has not yet been reviewed on DooYoo until today, so you get to hear my opinion first!
If you have read any ... of my previous reviews, you will know one of my all time favourite scents is Anna Sui - Sui Dreams - which like Night of Fancy is an Eau de Toilette rather than a longer lasting perfume. When my boyfriend asked what I would like scent-wise for Christmas, naturally I asked for Sui Dreams... sadly he couldn't get hold of this particular scent in time for Christmas - due to the area we live Anna Sui perfumes are not very widely available - but he did manage to get hold of this Night Of Fancy from the same brand - naturally I was chuffed to bits to be trying something I expected to be just as good if not better... and for the other reason I love Anna Sui - the gorgeous bottle designs! I have never heard of this particular scent before Christmas and have no recollection of anyone else close to me discussing this so I am reviewing today completely on my own experiences.
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Love at first sight?
On opening this present at Christmas the first thing I noticed was how large the box is, that the scent is contained in! In actual fact, you find when opening the box is that is needs to be shaped like this to hold the unusual shaped bottle top!
At first glance you fall in love with the product before seeing or smelling the product because Anna Sui has presented the box design just perfectly - the outside is shiny purple with designs of grey and red flowers down the sides of the front with the large image of a shiny red and silver peacock on the front. The design strikes you as quite dark and mysterious but very attractive at the same time which completely suits the name of the scent.
When you open the box to grab the perfume (like I did) you see the inside is lined with the colour red which matchs the striking part red designs on the front of the box. The perfume itself is presented in a purple plastic velvet covered tray which has been molded to the shape of the perfume inside. I love the fact that there is a tray inside shaped to the shape of the bottle and top as it means its not freely rolling round in transit giving the possibility of damage - which is great for overnight stays.
The perfume bottle itself can be easily lifted from the tray with some cut out slips on the bottom meaning you can easily take out the perfume using your thumb and index finger - this is a good thing as I have tried taking it out using the unusual bottle top shape and I did have a hard job doing it this way!
Now on to the amazing bottle! The scent is contained in a rectangular shaped bottle which is made out of glass and completely transparent showing the light coloured purple liquid inside... but the first thing that will catch your eye like it did mine is the bottle top - which like the front of the box is shaped exactly like the peacock on the packaging. The peacock however is made out of a very hard plastic and is entirely purple in colour. The shapes of the peacock feathers have been carved into the plastic to give the most amazing 3D effect. The bottom of the peacock top is also lined with four bands of a very dark shiny pink - which goes very nicely with the box packaging. However as much as I love the design the one qualm I have with the packaging is that the peacock top is very hard to remove which is slightly annoying but I suppose it gives the spray nozzle underneigh that added protection.
In my honest opinion even with their wife range of appealing bottles which would usually appeal to the more younger customer I believe this one looks very sophisticated and would appeal to most.
So was it love at first sight?! For me it certainly was!
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A Magical Potion?
The official Anna Sui website describes this particular scent as follows : "Elegant, sophisticated, and seductive, it gets you ready to rock the night away. A siren song of adventure and allure. Like a magical potion, it frees you to turn flirty and seductive, glamorous and mysterious"
... Naturally upon reading the description and first glance of the bottle you would assume this is a night-time perfume and I honestly believe this is what they intended this to be. To me, to achieve a scent intended for night they needed to have a sweet but inviting musk scent to it and sadly Anna Sui failed completely with this perfume. The packaging shows a night time perfume but the scent itself is way too light and sweet for this purpose - and actually upon first application I actually felt a little bit sick with it.
The notes given for this particular scent are as follows:
Living blueberry, Grapefruit leaves, Wild strawberries, Living stephanotis, Jasmine sambac, Milkshake accord, Cashmeran and Olibanum.
So as you can see there is way too many sweet light ingredients in this to make it a night-time scent and in my opinion should of come with more musk-type ingredients and a bit of vanilla scent would not hurt either.
When sprayed although the liquid shows as purple in the bottle comes out clear and does not colour any textures as you would be worried about. The spray nozzle is quite firm and does cover a great area of your skin in use.
As expected with an Eau de Toilette you are aware the scent is not supposed to last very long but again due to my previous experiances with Sui Dreams I was expecting a bit more than what I was to get out of this. The scent lasts on your skin a mere 2 hours - and during this time I was just sitting in the house and not out and about outside where I can blame activities on the reason for the scent running out this quickly. As previously mentioned when first sprayed it smells very sickly - this feeling lasts the first half an hour before it dies down into a half pleasant scent on your skin... but even with the 1 and a half hours where the scent is not sickly I am not impressed very much at all.
... So to anwser the question, no this is not a magical potion...
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My last thoughts?
To me this is a huge dissapointment from Anna Sui considering how much I love Sui Dreams and I think I will be a bit wary at trying other beautiful shaped perfume bottles from them in future.
Although I am not a huge fan of this one, its not completely horrendous compared to some others that I have tried and with this in mind its likely going to be a scent I will choose to wear at work only - and with the the bottle size that i recieved being 50ml and the scent lasting just 2 hours or less I doubt this one will last me very long.
The only thing I love is the actual bottle design. I will not be buying this for myself, thats for certain.
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Prices
The rough guide prices and sizes available online are as follows :
30ml - £13
50ml - £20
75ml - £22
Anna Sui is a fairly cheap range but if you wanted my honest opinion keep your money and buy Sui Dreams.
Read the complete review |
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Anna Sui Secret Wish Eau de Toilette
by walsha11
I owned a few of these Anna Sui fragrances when I was younger as they were pretty popular with teenage girls around the time I was growing up. Looking at the bottles you can see why, they are always super girly and either a little bit funny or unusual.
This particular perfume comes in a little glass bottle. It has a spherical ... plastic lid with a tiny little fairy sat on top of the lid. Inside the perfume is a pretty pale green/turquoise colour which looks really nice with the décor of the bottle. I can see now that the bottle is actually probably a little bit tacky, but as a teenager I thought it was cute and pretty and oh so girly.
The perfume itself has a similar feel to the bottle. It is combines fragrances to give a very magical and ethereal scent which best represents the overall concept of the product. The initial notes you get are of lemon, melon and apricot which gives a very fresh, fruity smell to the perfume. There are also undertones of blackcurrant, cedar wood and amber which add a sense of mystery to this perfume and a real feeling of magic.
Considering that the bottle is a little bit naff now I think the perfume is still quite nice. Granted it does smell a little young and is still best suited to teenager, but the scent is girly and fruity and definitely feels very fresh and exciting. I think the best way to describe it is vibrant. It is like walking into a summer garden party.
I find this perfume best suits daytime wear and is also probably better matched to spring and summer. This makes this perfume not very versatile which is a little bit annoying, but it does mean it really feels right when you do choose to wear it. I think the scents that are chosen are pretty unique and combined in a way that feel very different from most other perfumes I use. This can be exciting, but I wouldn't want to wear it all the time.
You can buy this perfume for around £30 for a 30ml bottle. It is an eau de toilette so it isn't as strong as a traditional parfum and therefore does wear off more easily. This again makes it better suited to younger market, but it is still a nice summery scent.
Overall, this is a nice perfume for the summer but perhaps it is a little better suited to teen girls than the older woman.
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Anna Sui Secret Wish Eau de Toilette
by AbsintheFairy
When I was a teenager, Anna Sui fragrances were really popular but for one reason or another I never got around to trying any of them. Just after Christmas, however, I found a set of 5 miniatures being sold in Debenhams for under £20 and decided to buy it and give some of the fragrances a try. This review will discuss my experience with ... the Secret Wish fragrance.
***Bottle***
The bottle for this fragrance is very attractive. It has a curved shape with a fairy sitting on top. The perfume inside is pale green, to match the box which is green with a picture of a fairy and some butterflies and flowers. The fragrance is very girly and spring-like and, like many Anna Sui fragrance, seems inspired by fairy tales.
***The Fragrance***
Anna Sui Secret Wish is described as "a magical fragrance busting with the scent of fresh lemon, melon and apricot, melted with the mysterious undertones of blackcurrant, cedar wood and sensual amber".
***My Experience***
I find that many Anna Sui fragrances are light, fruity and fresh and Secret Wish is no exception. The top note blend of lemon, melon and apricot is unique and is a very different fruity scent from any I've smelled before. It is very light and suitable for day wear, particularly in the summer. I really like it as it is so fresh and natural.
I can't really detect the base notes of this perfume as it wears off within about three to four hours. The fragrance does darken slightly during this time and becomes slightly more woody, but not dramatically so.
***Price and Availability***
Secret Wish is one of the more widely available Anna Sui fragrances. It is possible to obtain a 30ml bottle of eau de toilette from Debenhams for around £30.
***Conclusion***
This is one of my favourite Anna Sui fragrances. It is light, fruity and fresh and would suit younger women and teenagers, but I'm happy to wear it as an adult and would consider buying a full-size bottle. Unfortunately, like all other Anna Sui perfumes I've tried, the lack of longevity means that I have to deduct a star.
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