I will start off this post with a fact: I admit that I am a vain person. How else would a person spend all of her monthly leftover on a cosmetic that she doesn't even enjoy wearing?
I've been here, done that. Now I am sharing my overview and thoughts on the brand and you can probably guess what it is in a short form: I love love the packaging, but not so thrilled about the quality.
Everybody went through my past entries of this blog should know that I love anything with floral pattern, especially the ones with big petals such as gardenia, peony, and last but not least, rose. While there are lots of brands that feature some flower in their packaging , nothings gets me like Anna Sui. I know beauty is something everybody perceives differently and it's useless for me to yell on the blog about how "pretty" it is and hope everyone else like it.
Anna Sui is known for it's black packaging but it does black so differently that the others that it just caught my eyes and I am stuck with it. Think about it Chanel in black in called classy, M.A.C in black screams professionalism, too faced in black is goth but Anna Sui in black....
I think it's cute. (I mean, you can disagree with me but I am just saying how I got into the brand.)
The package was a big thing for me since I never really liked to put on makeup in the first place anyway, looking at a beautiful stash was pleasing enough for me.Apparently this is not the case anymore. Right now, it bothers me that I am buying something that are utterly useless, if I want something cute, I would want it to look good on me as well as it on a dressing table (not that I have one).
Not that all of them is complete garbage, the quality is just mediocre. I think Anna Sui cosmetic is definitely better than Covergirl, Maybeline and Rimmel but overall the same level as Wet n Wild (3 bucks for a Trio, hey) and Bourjois.
Here is a list I complied which serves as an at-a-glance and each of the title will lead you to the individual review (if there is one).
Base Makeup: The review is in no way comprehensive. I gave up on these since all of the base makeup items I've tried, they all cake, look like mask and cause allergic reaction.
Blusher: Very fine in texture thus quite natural,pigmented and firmly pressed. The soft brush came with it is completely useless.
Eye Color: Huge selection of colors. Fairly pigmented, texture is not as fine as I would prefer and the rose scented powder is getting on my nerve.
Fragrance: I have the Secret Wish, Sui love and the classic (shown on picture above) The fragrance are quite girly, but I found them as flat as the ones you see I those apparel stores, and frankly, I think they smell good the same way as a Clairol herbal essences shampoo does. I should have gone with the mini. (Damn it!)
Lip Color: Certain shades are simply beautiful but you really need to layer on to get the color.
Liquid Eyeliner: Creamy and shimmery, doesn't stay and it caked after I had it for a while.
Makeup Tools: I have the cheek brush and the lip brush, mediocre if not lousy.
Mascara: Possibly my favorite mascara. I had the lengthening one and it creates super long lashes that look fairly natural.The only reason people will ask if you are wearing mascara is that it's just too long.Oh by the way, it smells nice too. (The rose scent only bothers me when it's too much or in powder form.)
Mirrors/ Powder Cases: The only Anna Sui items that are worth buying in my opinion, very beautifully design and low-maintenance.(only the black ones, the white one is not as tough and the golden one's top layer scratch off easily)
Nail Color: Again, certain shades are simply gorgeous. Has a fruity floral scent that is different from the skin care and the normal rose fragrance when drying. Highly prone to chipping.
Skin Care: Worse than a few drugstore lines, heavy handed in alcohol when it comes to toner that you can feel and smell its presence. Moisturizer, it was alright but nothing a plain old dollar store vitamin E cream can't beat.
In short, if the sole reason you buy cosmetics is that they look cute as a part of collection(which was my case for quite a while) , Anna Sui is a great brand to go for other wise you will be annoyed about the the fact that 90% of the money you pay go straight into the package.
P.S. Actually there are some certain shades that can't be passed on. I might explain it later...or not.
I've been here, done that. Now I am sharing my overview and thoughts on the brand and you can probably guess what it is in a short form: I love love the packaging, but not so thrilled about the quality.
Everybody went through my past entries of this blog should know that I love anything with floral pattern, especially the ones with big petals such as gardenia, peony, and last but not least, rose. While there are lots of brands that feature some flower in their packaging , nothings gets me like Anna Sui. I know beauty is something everybody perceives differently and it's useless for me to yell on the blog about how "pretty" it is and hope everyone else like it.
Anna Sui is known for it's black packaging but it does black so differently that the others that it just caught my eyes and I am stuck with it. Think about it Chanel in black in called classy, M.A.C in black screams professionalism, too faced in black is goth but Anna Sui in black....
I think it's cute. (I mean, you can disagree with me but I am just saying how I got into the brand.)
The package was a big thing for me since I never really liked to put on makeup in the first place anyway, looking at a beautiful stash was pleasing enough for me.Apparently this is not the case anymore. Right now, it bothers me that I am buying something that are utterly useless, if I want something cute, I would want it to look good on me as well as it on a dressing table (not that I have one).
Not that all of them is complete garbage, the quality is just mediocre. I think Anna Sui cosmetic is definitely better than Covergirl, Maybeline and Rimmel but overall the same level as Wet n Wild (3 bucks for a Trio, hey) and Bourjois.
Here is a list I complied which serves as an at-a-glance and each of the title will lead you to the individual review (if there is one).
Base Makeup: The review is in no way comprehensive. I gave up on these since all of the base makeup items I've tried, they all cake, look like mask and cause allergic reaction.
Blusher: Very fine in texture thus quite natural,pigmented and firmly pressed. The soft brush came with it is completely useless.
Eye Color: Huge selection of colors. Fairly pigmented, texture is not as fine as I would prefer and the rose scented powder is getting on my nerve.
Fragrance: I have the Secret Wish, Sui love and the classic (shown on picture above) The fragrance are quite girly, but I found them as flat as the ones you see I those apparel stores, and frankly, I think they smell good the same way as a Clairol herbal essences shampoo does. I should have gone with the mini. (Damn it!)
Lip Color: Certain shades are simply beautiful but you really need to layer on to get the color.
Liquid Eyeliner: Creamy and shimmery, doesn't stay and it caked after I had it for a while.
Makeup Tools: I have the cheek brush and the lip brush, mediocre if not lousy.
Mascara: Possibly my favorite mascara. I had the lengthening one and it creates super long lashes that look fairly natural.The only reason people will ask if you are wearing mascara is that it's just too long.Oh by the way, it smells nice too. (The rose scent only bothers me when it's too much or in powder form.)
Mirrors/ Powder Cases: The only Anna Sui items that are worth buying in my opinion, very beautifully design and low-maintenance.(only the black ones, the white one is not as tough and the golden one's top layer scratch off easily)
Nail Color: Again, certain shades are simply gorgeous. Has a fruity floral scent that is different from the skin care and the normal rose fragrance when drying. Highly prone to chipping.
Skin Care: Worse than a few drugstore lines, heavy handed in alcohol when it comes to toner that you can feel and smell its presence. Moisturizer, it was alright but nothing a plain old dollar store vitamin E cream can't beat.
In short, if the sole reason you buy cosmetics is that they look cute as a part of collection(which was my case for quite a while) , Anna Sui is a great brand to go for other wise you will be annoyed about the the fact that 90% of the money you pay go straight into the package.
P.S. Actually there are some certain shades that can't be passed on. I might explain it later...or not.
hey citrine!
ReplyDeletemy 1st comment on your blog!!!
i totally agree with you on your assessment of different brand's black packaging, and anna sui IS cute :D it's probably the only brand whose black packaging i don't dislike. all the other ones, be they classy, professional, goth, whatever, i think they're all kinda...ugly LOL
just one problem with anna sui - everything is rose scented. garrrr - why?!?
wow wow wow! i am drooling on the packaging, but its sad to read that 90% of the price goes to the packaging! it is quite pricey huh! i'll wait for more post about this thanks
ReplyDeleteThe packaging is so cute. It'a shame the quality is so mediocre. I'm such a sucker for packaging and I bought stuff in the past just because the product looked pretty, but now I do some research before purchasing a product. The product might be pretty, but if the quality's not good then it's just a waste of money. Thanks for the reviews.
ReplyDeleteThe packaging is sort of gothic-chic. As an advertising student, I'm pretty obsessed with packaging, and I really appreciate the effort some manufacturers go to in order to make every aspect of their product beautiful.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, that effort only really matters if the product is quality, too... =[
Hey Dalenna:
ReplyDeleteChanel is ugly? I really wouldn't mind if people give me a couple of Chanel goodies though. And MAC is alright for me and I think too faced is a bit cheap-looking.
I used to think that the rose scent is quite lovely (when I only had a mascara and lipstick) and now I know that they use it practically everywhere and that is really getting on my nerve, I still like roses and stuff though, just in a fainter and more natural way.
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And Nikki:
Well, probably not 90% (but close enough to piss me off) If the refill of Anna Sui were to be sold alone, I would never spend any money on the actual thing actually.
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Gio:
Well, it's probably not that shameful for most Anna Sui targeted customers anyway since most of them are indeed buying for the package...but even when I see reviews of Anna Sui, each item do indeed has a very good makeup alley rating, I am pretty sure many people are having fun using them, I like them too, just don't really think that you are buying anything substantial.
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last but not least, Anastasia
First, thanks a ton for the info on the MAC pigment, I will be sure to poke around in the MAC store next long weekend! (And I guess it's time to invest on a primer and such.)
Although I am no where near advertising (the geeky-ness might throw some of the readers off) I do agree that the effort they make only matters when the product it worthy of it.
I am probably pissing off a lot of people saying so, but a lot of Japanese lines are paying an awful lot of attention on the packaging that just makes it appear that they are really vain (of course, or they are very creative coming up with different package). The colors they have are very wearable (aka sheer), but I prefer the ability to control the level I want since if I am paying a good 18 bucks for an eyeshadow, I would like it to be pigmented in the first place but easy to be blended down rather than plain sheer.
And there is another thing, when some of the Japanese lines go "super sweet princess" , it throws me off like no other, that's why I have hard time considering even buying from lines like majorlica majora or lavshuca because they are just too much sweetness for me to handle, but then that's just my personal preference.
In short, I think that I am cheated out of my money when I got something look much prettier on a table top than on my face. And sometime I am amazed how some lines with "ugly" packaging turned out looking so good when applied. (Will take about it later.)
Citrine
The packaging's beautiful, I'm very tempted by the mirrors and lipsticks; somehow I feel like companies with such elaborate packaging probably don't have the best cosmetics though
ReplyDelete