Bits of Birnam Wood

[zankoku_zen]

Great Birnam Wood didn’t just come to high Dunsinane Hill – it marched all over Los Angeles: apple wood, apple buds, squished apples, and apple blossom.

[zankoku_zen]

All the apple you would have wanted - pulp, wood, and flowers. Apples, apples, apples galore. If you were missing the NYCC apple blends this year, look no further. This is like an apple SN, without being a single note per se, but rather conjuring all the possibilities for apples in one single scent. Great throw and wear length.

[Soupy Twist]

Another spectacular achievement by Beth.

 

Baked apples in the bottle. Goes on as baked apple and apple blossom — I think it’s the Annurca from the single note. There are definitely flowers. I want to say I smell buds? Does a bud smell different from a flower? That’s what I’m getting.

 

As it dries it’s more apple juice, as in fresh from the apple. Something sweet and weird comes in as it approaches the finish, like… broken twigs. Honest to fuck I am smelling broken twigs from an apple tree.

 

Finishes as freshly-broken branches from an apple tree. Beth, you are a literal adept of your art. This is astonishing. It is all of appledom in one perfume.

[Leopard403]

Some apple scents can be, well, too apple-y on me, if that makes sense. I don’t want to smell “like an apple.” But this is lovely and full, so you smell like all parts of an apple’s goodness: the soft wood of the tree, the bright buds in bloom, the crisp fruit, the warm sun shining on an orchard. It’s a simple vision but with complex execution, and it’s brilliant!

[alyelle]

Apple blends are probably my favourite of all my BPAL, and I have ... at least ten currently in use. This one is a welcome addition to my lovely collection. Long-lived on me (hurrah!), with a medium to strong throw.

 

In the imp: apples, red and pulpy, with a backing of woody earth.

 

Wet: sweet mashed apple, and pink blossoms. It reminds me of Snow Glass Apples, but warmer, and an apple glitter body paint I had ca. 1996. I love it already, and moreso for both of those facts.

 

Dry: simply the most gorgeous apple, all day; a delicious balm to my soul.

 

Stars: ★★★★★

[doomsday_disco]

I did not get a decant of this one because I told myself I had too many apple scents.

Then the reviews came in, and I read them and thought, "Well, maybe I should try to get a partial."

I am so glad I was able to find one. This is predominantly a mashed yellow or yellow and red apple grounded by a bit of the apple wood. I loved the squished apple note and the fact that there's these other apple notes backing it up, making it kind of like mashed apples in an apple orchard.

 

It's very realistic, and really lovely, and if I hadn't found a partial and had blind-bottled it instead, I would not have been disappointed. I'm thrilled to have some of this in my collection!

Edited November 26, 2019 by doomsday_disco

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: A good honest apple scent, with an underlying woodsiness. And I almost want to say a hint of caramel? Something goopy-thick and sweet, anyway; looking at the other reviews, I can easily see either mashed or baked apples.

 

Wet: Still primarily apple, but an It's Complicated apple. There's an almost woozy note, like cider or fermenting apple juice, the woody notes are stronger, and a lovely, delicate apple blossom note wafts in and out. There's a lot going on here, but it's harmonious - like Soupy Twist says, it's all of appledom in one perfume.

 

Dry: A softer, warmer apple scent, slightly spiced and definitely woodsy. I'm still getting a cider-y/fermented feel, and the florals have faded almost entirely.

[RoseThornAndOak]

Starts out apple-y and dries down with more woody notes and something a bit almost dusty. It doesnte quite blend well on my skin but I'm glad I got to try it.

[artisjok]

Bits of Birnam Wood is yuuuuummy. Sometimes, apple can be too high-pitched, shampoo/perfumey, especially as the primary note. Here I’m getting that perfumey note, yet it pairs so well with the mashed & wood notes that make an almost caramel-esque effect. It’s like eating baked apples under an apple tree while wearing an apple perfume. Truly a combo of all the apple goods. 
I’m glad the reviews convinced me to get a decant, and I’ll be treasuring it this Summer when I want to smell delicious. 
Oh, and it lasts a good while with some throw. A total win for my scent-thirsty skin! 

Edited March 17, 2020 by artisjok

[firefae]

I blind-bottled this last year after reading some reviews and deciding a non-spice-affiliated apple scent was a need in my life...and then never quite reached for it. It's got just a little bit of almost-sour tartness in the bottle to me that doesn't quite lure me in when I'm making "what to wear today" sniff decisions. I pulled it out today, though, and it settles in so nicely! It's unapologetically APPLE, somewhere in the Golden Delicious universe, but also the peel and seeds and leaves and some woody pulp and maaayyybe even some lightly floral apple blossom on me. It's such an excellent apple smell, with fairly low throw but good staying power. Will definitely not wait so long to reach for this one again!

[fairybites]

Odd; this smells almost exactly like the red apple lip gloss I loved as a kid.  It's definitely kinda shampoo like with a touch of spice, but on me it's mostly glossy apples. Not getting the wood at all. Really liking this, although I was expecting something different and I'm confused on what made it smell like lip gloss on me. No complaints, though!

[ShadowEtienne]

I am excited to try the decant I got as part of a forum order of what looks to be apples: the entire tree. It smelled great in the decant from my first quick sniff, and I am really curious how it will behave on skin.

 

In the decant: A bright sweet almost caramelized woodiness with rich juicy apple notes and a light burst of barely there florals from just barely blooming apple `blossoms. The skin and pulp of the apple are distinct notes here.

 

Fresh on the skin: This is beautifully balanced and absolutely every element of apple from the tree to the buds and blossoms to the fruit. There is almost a spiciness to the wood that really rounds out the scent.

 

On dry down: The overall notes continue to improve their balance through the dry down phase, but the notes themselves remain delightfully relatively unchanged. This is a very complex and very focused scent. It's the whole apple tree in all its elements, and the apple wood note in this continues to truly delight me! I honestly may need to keep an eye out for other things with apple wood as a note specifically.