Product Review: Anna Sui Secret Wish Perfume

Hey, you know how I was a bit obsessed with Bond No. 9's Scent of Peace? That charmingly joyful blend of blackberries, florals, and woods? Well, the obsession has not faded: I have literally taken out my little sample vial and shoved it under the noses of friends at school, dinner, weddings, funerals, with the demand that they "must smell this". (Okay, maybe not at funerals. Yet.)

The general consensus is that everyone just luuuhhhves it, but then they get sticker shock when they hear the price. Still, we smitten girls dreamily spend the rest of the day/evening sniffing our wrists: unable to get enough of it, and fighting the urge to throw good sense to the wind and just buy a bottle already. (Fact: it is very hard to smell pretty when they've cut off your water and electricity)

So what's a girl to do? Seduced by the scent, but unable to finance it? Look for duplicates, of course.

There's a lot of talk on the internets about how Scent of Peace smells just like Dolce & Gabanna's Light Blue. Personally, I don't see (smell?) the resemblance. Sure, they're both kind of fruity and light, but Light Blue has a sharp sour note to it that I don't like. But, with a bit more research, I came upon a tip that Scent of Peace is a dead-ringer for this perfume:



Anna Sui's Secret Wish. (NOT Secret Wish Magic Romance, which is something else entirely.) Apparently sold in Victoria's Secret stores (which we don't have in Canada), the list of notes sounded about right: lemon, melon and apricot-scented flowers, pineapple, black current, white cedarwood, amber. (Although, what the heck are apricot-scented flowers? Is it apricot, or flowers? Why not just call it "apricot flowers"? Ridiculous.) So, off I went to the Anna Sui counter at Sears to take a sniff.

Verdict? A winner! It's not really as good as the Scent of Peace, of course. It's too sweet to be a real dupe, but it's very close. And, about 10x cheaper, especially if you buy it off eBay. Due to my woeful financial state, I've forbidden myself from even purchasing *that*, but once the Funding Fairy comes in September, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be picking up a bottle.