If you were to travel back in time twenty years or so and see what I was doing on a random weekday afternoon, you might find me browsing at Parfumerie Douglas in West Philadelphia. I might have been buying a nail file or a sparkly hair clip, and I was certainly sniffing my way through the perfume section, especially a shelf holding Sui Dreams, Sui Love and, best of all, Anna Sui's eponymous debut fragrance from 1999. That powdery rose scent in its black-and-purple, rose-embellished bottle is still a favorite of mine.

Anna Sui recently celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of her brand's foray into fine fragrance by launching a quintet of new scents: the Wild Wonder collection. All five were developed by perfumer Jérôme Épinette, who has worked on Sui's fragrances since 2017's Fantasia, and the face of the collection is Scarlett White, the daughter of model and singer-songwriter Karen Elson. Elson herself is a longtime Sui "muse," and there's a feeling of generational continuity with the packaging for Wild Wonder, as well: the gilt rosebud cap is shaped just like the black rosebud cap of the original Anna Sui perfume (now known as Anna Sui Classic).

With Wild Wonder, the Anna Sui fragrance line steps away from the gourmand tendencies it's recently been following. I've enjoyed sampling the Sundae collection and Fantasia Pop! Surprise, but I'm feeling gourmanded-out this winter — sweet perfumes have been a trend, in case you didn't know! — so I'm ready for this change. I was especially happy to note the rose thread that seems to run throughout Wild Wonder, like a nod back to that début fragrance and to the rose's steady appearance in Sui's fashion over the past quarter-century and beyond. 

The most rose-forward scent in the Wild Wonder family is, not surprisingly, Thorn of a Rose. This one promises "elegance with an edge" in a "woody floral" composition of mandarin, pink pepper, rosa damascena, violet, incense and patchouli. The woody aspect is much less noticeable than the official description suggests; instead, I'd describe Thorn of a Rose as a dewy tea rose scent with hints of citrus. I have a feeling I'll be wearing it regularly this spring and summer, paired with an Anna Sui floral-print frock or similar outfit. It's bright and optimistic, but substantial; just a very pretty rose-in-bloom perfume, which can be hard to find (especially at a reasonable price) these days. It would probably appeal to fans of Régime des Fleurs Chloé Sevigny Little Flower (another Jérôme Épinette creation) or Byredo Rose of No Man's Land, too.

In the recent frosty weather I've been spraying on Utopia Mist, the "dreamy paradise" of "a warm oasis." Where the "juice" of Thorn of a Rose is tinted pink, here we have a golden-hued liquid. That makes sense, because saffron is a key note of Utopia Mist, along with pink pepper and yuzu; raspberry flower, orris and violet; pink sugar, tonka beans and cashmere woods. Again, this fragrance is less sweet or woody than I might have expected — it's a very wearable spicy floral, with the pink pepper most prominent, and some subtle rose and woody iris in its heart. If it were an Anna Sui garment, it would be a tweedy little cardigan flecked with metallic thread. Its low sillage makes it office-appropriate, while its composition is still playful enough for year-round social outings.

We're encouraged to "let dreams take flight" with Mystic Luna, a "floral amber" fragrance with an "ethereal" and "intimate" composition of bergamot, juniper berries, Grasse rose, jasmine, ambroxan and amber. Of the three Wild Wonder scents I've been wearing, Mystic Luna reminds me most of Anna Sui Classic, maybe due to its purple coloration, maybe because it's such a powdery floral scent. It also happens to remind me of The Body Shop White Musk, so it's definitely a perfume for anyone who wants to revisit that particular 1990s-early 2000s scent mood. What sets Mystic Luna apart from either of these predecessors is a twist of juniper, and the projection and persistence of its fluffy musk base. If you've ever seen the 1994 runway footage of a trio of supermodels wearing Anna Sui's white baby-doll dresses accessorized with fur stoles and feather headdresses, just imagine those images as perfume, and you'll be ready for Mystic Luna!

To round out the collection, Dew Fields and Electric Whisper are less floral. Dew Fields is a transparent lemon-y green tea scent and the lychee-topped fruitchouli of Electric Whisper is Anna Sui's personal favorite, so you may want to try those two as well. I'm still trying to figure out how so much time has passed since my days sniffing Sui scents at Douglas, but I'm happy that Wild Wonder is marking this anniversary.

Anna Sui Thorn of a Rose, Utopia Mist and Mystic Luna (as well as Dew Fields and Electric Whisper) are $77 each for 50 ml Eau de Parfum at Anna Sui. 

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