Empathy

Another fantastic delight from THOO. If you are an appreciator of the fragrance from Argos called Bacio Immortalle, this is similar to what you can expect. The difference between the two is Bacio heads toward a leathery / suede raspberry note on the drydown whereas this lovely gem goes to a beautiful airy ozonic raspberry type vibe. Both of these fragrances on my skin appear to have the same strength and projection which is a small personal bubble. I prefer Empathy over Bacio because it works better with my skin chemistry. If any of you have smelled Jul Et Mad's Stairway to Heaven...that is about the projection and airy type quality you will get. This is not an overly sweet fragrance btw. I have seen on the reviews some say it was super sweet and I would disagree. A super sweet syrupy fragrance would be Mancera's Black Vanilla. This is far from that due to its more ozonic air-like quality. Note: I am in no way trying to discredit anyone else's thoughts on what one feels is sweet, just to my nose from the many fragrances I have smelled, although sweet, this is not overly sweet and cloying like some richer and darker gourmand like fragrances are, due to its light scent profile. And I do love my gourmands btw. :)

I have to share that I agree with whoever said the scent on dry down becomes a bit like ashtray (this impression comes and goes so perhaps this depends on other circumstances like skin ph or mood?), obviously due to strong tobacco note which probably should have been a tad lighter here. This does not make me dislike this scent at all. Just a fair warning if you don’t like tobacco you might be in for a disappointment. Why I like it? I can’t really say, there’s something special about it. I keep coming back to this scent, I’m drawn to it! I adore the opening and first couple of hours, definitely pear and raspberry blossoms shine here. The scent is fruity and a bit floral but not at all sickly sweet due to tobacco, spruce and oud. I believe aforementioned combo of fruit, spruce, oud makes this scent so very interesting and, strangely, fresh. I love it, it’s not a blind buy safe scent but worth trying! Oh, forgot to add. If you’re new to oud try THOO. They do oud very well. My nose is really sensitive to it and I’m not the biggest fan of this note but Empathy has lovely oud, barely detectable but you know it’s there... magic. (I had to order a full bottle, yay!)

I love raspberries. They taste amazing and are beautiful and light. That being said, i dont often like raspberry perfumes. They just dont do it for me. The wrong facets of the scent are highlighted, to my nose, not presenting the fruit's scent at its best. I love Empathy! This is my second blind buy from this house. This is probably my favorite raspberry perfume. It is so well blended!! I love the raspberry contrasted with the spruce against the tobacco and wood. It has a little powdery lilt to it as well. I am guessing it is the blooms that almost gives it an almost raspberry zinger smell. I would say it is like a more complex, more adult version of the rasperry fragrance by Bath and Body Works or similar company.

You're crawling in the desert, dehydrated and exhausted. For a moment, you look up from the dried sand, past the scattered and twisted, dried trees, and you see a siren. She's dancing in a cool mountain forest, breathing deeply behind a mist. She's picking raspberries out in those woods, singing, and you see yourself with her. You're paralyzed as she looks in your eyes, as she puts a raspberry in her mouth and chews once, as she leans over to whisper in your ear. But, you're in the desert, and now she's in the desert, off at a distance, teasing you with her naked form and a basket of fresh raspberries, laying on those twisted, dried trees. Empathy by The House of Oud.

Sniffing this gives me butterflies. How good is this, I’m swooning. This is a fruity raspberry tobacco bomb. I never thought I’d be into tobacco but here I am. This is so dreamy and addicting. Opens up with a juicy realistic pear. I remember as a young teen walking through the streets of the old town and seeing the hipster young adults and smelling delicious tobacco in the air, that scent lingered around quite prominently and I detect it in here. This smells like a rich and international girl. This is by no means a juvenile girly fruity scent. It settles into a mossy and woody fruit infused tobacco. I will absolutely purchase a full size.

This smells like an extremely expensive raspberry shampoo, but nonetheless, 100% like a luscious raspberry shampoo and nothing else, and it's fantastic! The price is really steep but I would buy it, however I do love both raspberry and shampoo smells, and I actually used to use a raspberry scented shampoo and conditioner in high school. The bottle is wonderful and I adore the name, which is what made me try it. We could all use a little more empathy. :)

I got it for Christmas. When I tried it, I almost got sick of the smell. It was terrible. I felt nothing but smoke. I didn't use it for half a year, then I took it out in the summer. And a miracle happened! I just loved it. The smoky scent was just there to make the fruity cotton candy scent a little exciting.

This is a smoky raspberry fragrance. It’s sexy, and I need that beautiful bottle asap! 😍

It was love at first sniff. Absolutely gorgeous and unforgettable! ❤️

Empathy is best summed up as "smoky raspberry". Sweet and synthetic, it smells more like raspberry-flavoured sweets/shampoo etc. than the fruit itself. More oriental than gourmand, it features an woody-amber base that grounds the sweet-smokiness somewhat. On paper, the notes seem discordant, but this scent actually works well - it is pleasant in a simplistic, girlish manner. It is too sweet and juvenile for my taste, however. Empathy is a raspberry scent from initial spray, very sweet and slightly syrupy. It reminds me of taking swimming lessons as a child - closely resembling a L'Oréal Kids shampoo that was popular at the local swimming pool. I get a little artemisia, vermouth-like instead of bitter and herbal, an interesting choice that complements the raspberry note perfectly. There is a subtle hint of pear that enhances the sweetness. As it develops, a soft smokiness creeps in thanks to the tobacco, providing an interesting counterpoint to the sugary raspberry. The fruitiness smells increasingly like jellybeans as it develops on my skin. The woody-amber accord that emerges as it dries down is subtle but adds a slight maturity to Empathy, grounding the sweetness somewhat and making it more "perfume-y". However, there is no oud detectable to my nose, and the shampoo resemblance never disappears. It fades to a musky, smoky-raspberry skin scent. Sillage and longevity are moderate. While it evokes childhood memories for me, Empathy is not a scent that I'd wear. Still, a youthful feminine scent with a slight (and much-needed) edge. Raspberry shampoo, made interesting by its smoky note. 3/5.

Interestingly, when wearing Empathy, I get regular wafts that remind me of chamomile tea. Furthermore, that tea aspect, combined with fruity notes, also gives me La Petite Robe Noire by Guerlain vibes, even though the notes listed are not similar... I can definitely smell fruits, but had not recognized the raspberry before I looked up the notes. Once dried down, the drier notes of tobacco and wood take over, ensuring that the fragrance never goes too sweet, at least for my liking. Empathy is a fragrance for those who like fruits, but do want a more mature scent profile, and do not mind woody notes.

First blast of candied red fruit on top of something faintly woody spicy. Did I suddenly get anosmic because I went heavy with the spraying, got the first whiff, and suddenly can't smell anything at all! Fun, flirty, fruity, but gone so so fast. If it doesn't bloom on my skin then it's way overpriced for the performance I'm getting. Technically unisex but leans more feminine. I think the scent is appropriate for every occasion and weather except it's too fresh and light for night time. 6+ hours later: A faint whiff of sweet fruit remains. Too bad about the crappy performance, this was a fun scent.

Do not bash me please, but I think that this fragrance doesn't worth the price tag. I have a sample, and upon testing it I was hit by a very Lady Million-like scent... then it reminded me of an Oriflame perfume I loved as a young adolescent. It is a very lovely scent indeed, yes, but you may buy 2-3 paco rabane on the price of this...though this is mellower than that perfume.

Raspberry, benzoin, tobacco, spruce, and a hint of musk. I can't decipher the floral accord, but it's a sophisticated, candy-like raspberry, slightly sweet, floral, fruity, boozy, woody, smoky, smooth, and slightly-musky scent. Very good sillage and longevity. The ultimate mommy scent. It literally reminds me of my mom, lmao.

This is the scent of fruity berries! Immediately after that, the bitter grass of tobacco and mugwort drifted, and the atmosphere changed to an adult atmosphere at once. The notes that change from a sweet and sour scent like the moment you fall in love to a bitter taste and a smoky atmosphere are wonderful.

An airy semi-creamy effect like the result of consuming Fusen Marukawa bear bubble gum just to follow it up by placing a chewing tobacco in your mouth. It's not that much of a weirdo people are calling it out to be... it's kinda tame and cute! Or am I the one who's trippin'? hmmmm...🤔

This smells like a heavy tobacco user took a bath in oud-scented products, then sprayed some raspberry candy Bath & Body Works mist all over. Sillage and projection are non-existent, longevity is 4 hours. Fantastic concept, poor execution.

Raspberry sorbet flavor in a hashish bar. The tobacco adds a depth to the sweetness. Oud and benzoin ground it. Delicious, nostalgic and unique. I will have to keep trying before I decide on a full bottle but this is very pleasant to me.

I was expecting so much more from this one! Longevity?? Not so so... One of a kind?? not so sure about that.. Can not resist from sniffing my wrist?? definitely not true.. So, why to bother for this price?..

Testing from a freebie, strawberry-raspberry bobble gum in the beginning, which then turns fruity and finally into a cherry tobacco fragrance. Very pleasant, but maybe just a little too... cloyingly sweet.