Pandora`s Box: Anna Sui

Anna sui is an American Fashion designer with Chinese origins, and is known for her colorful, cheerful, vivid designs. She is also famous for her fragrances, cosmetics and eye-wear and has stores across 50 countries world wide. You can see her playful side in her creations...

A bouquet of nail colors

Anna Sui palace sparkle nail colors

Same goes for her perfume bottles.....

emmm....these kind of give me the creeps!

I've always had a weak spot for gorgeous packaging. Don't we all? ;)
I had a little test vial of Ana's perfume 'Forbidden Affair' that I decided to review

sorry for the bad lighting. Let's head over to google and see how the packaging actually looks like...

Love the cascading glass all around the edges...

And the elegant crown shaped ring...

ANNA SUI: Live inside a fairytale fantasy! Dabbing a little forbidden affair fragrance behind each ear is like putting on a Tiara. Enter through the gates of the forbidden affair garden and find your prince charming. Discover what it feels like to live happily ever after!

Enticing piece of writing. Head over to her website and be part of her magical world. It really is worth a visit.

The whole design concept is dedicated to a secret rendez vous between a prince and a princess with the taken from traditional fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. It was inspired by Baroque and Rococo gardens, Baroque palaces, boudoirs, royal fashion and the lavish lifestyle. This style brings us back to the mid-18th century.

A secret garden and a gate where lovers meet in the dusk, in order to remain unnoticed by king and queen, is portrayed on the perfume box. The bottle itself is shaped like oval mirrors of baroque boudoirs. The stopper is shaped like a rose bud that is about to blossom, symbolizing the Anna Sui brand.

The well-known British model Lily Donaldson is the face of the campaign, shown standing near the gates of the palace dressed in a princess lavender dress, with tiara on her head and crown jewelry making her dreamy and stylish. (source)

The interesting thing about this perfume is, that, for the first time ever, Cyclodextrin technology was used in it's composition. The technology claims to allow the top notes to re-emerge over and over again for an ongoing sparkling fresh fragrance experience.

I found it to be a fresh fruity floral rose with a strong jammy blackcurrant note. It is quite interesting and different from the usual fruity florals churned out by barrel loads these days. I think the tart pomegranate and lemon saves it from being too sweet. The cedar gives it a tinge of pleasant sharpness. I don't own a full size bottle, but somehow looking at the bottle I was expecting a richer vanilla laden spicy scent.I'm not complaining, it's quite unique, and a pleasant enough scent. I really like it, quiet fresh and well balanced without being too fruity or too floral.Lasted a good 5 hours on me without reapplying.

CATEGORY: Fruity Floral

Top Notes: Lemon, black currant, Red currant

Middle Notes: Rose, Raspberry, Pomegranate

Base Notes: Musk, Virginia cedar and Violet

This can be purchased from most large stores that stock designer perfumes so check locally for availability and price.

In the end I would like to share the artist who created this magic. While googling for the package design, I came across this talented artist who did two silhouette illustrations for this perfume's box.