(pictured: part of my collection)
Even though Anna Sui is a Taiwanese-American designer whose career took off in America, her cosmetics range is developed and made in Japan (by Albion) and is essentially a Japanese brand. I adore Anna Sui because it is fun, playful, gorgeous, and mysterious.
I remember reading some comments about Anna Sui cosmetics on the Internet when it was launched in America many years ago. Someone said that the Gothic-style packaging was bizarre (well, not in this season!) and she wondered where the market was going to be.
She was so wrong. One thing she probably didn’t know was how hugely popular Anna Sui had already been in Asia. The style of packaging was actually just right for the Japanese market: it was cute, girlie, fancy, and dreamy. (It is not the only style that sells in Japan, but it does attract everyone that wants everything to look ultra-cute.) In the image-conscious Japanese society, packaging matters and packaging sells, especially when Japan has a hugely competitive beauty market where good (and right) packaging stands out on magazine pages and grabs attention. When the first Anna Sui counter opened in Taiwan, it sold about 30,000 USD worth of products on the first day of business alone. Now, it is still going very strong in Asia.
It does target heavily on the younger consumers, who are the most relentless spenders. This might be part of Anna Sui’s success.
Of course, good packaging is not enough if the content doesn’t deliver. Anna sui has many strong products, such as loose powder, eyeliners, and lipsticks. My personal favorites are the powder blusher and cream-stick blusher (which was discontinued). My powder blusher color is 400. Its tester looked shockingly red when I was trying to decide which color to buy, but it actually goes on matte, sheer, and surprisingly natural. It can be built into a more intense finish as well. The brush in the compact is nice and soft, compared with so many others.
This autumn, the packaging of the foundation range has gone back to classic black, as it first was. I do miss the gold packaging because all the lovely filigree patterns get to stand out much more.
Anna Sui falls a bit short on skincare. It is not particularly known for its skincare range, and it just happens that I haven’t come across anything that works for me.
The last time I saw Anna Sui cosmetics in the UK was several years ago. The self-help shelf in Selfridges London looked forsaken and it didn’t have the full range. Then the shelf was gone and some of the products strangely appeared at the Hard Candy counter in the nearby Debenhams for a few months before they completely disappeared (I think) in the UK. (The fragrances are still widely available though.) It was a shame…if only I could also see all those gorgeous and sensual loose powder cases in every department store here……
