So today was my first full wearing from my brand new bottle of Jubilation XXV - met up with an ex and wanted to smell great on the cool sunny day we had here. Well, I don’t know if I went nose blind or what, but even though I shpraaaayed it on heavily, I could barely smell it. It was like an instant skin scent, despite a relatively heavy application. My ex knows I’m into fragrances and even though I had recently applied it, she could barely smell it either. So I came away feeling pretty disappointed with my new Amouage and felt like I needed to compensate with a solo beast mode night now that I’m home. Now, given that Amouage is probably like a dollar a spray, I didn’t wanna go crazy reapplying it, plus I didn’t wanna feel more disappointment. So I was wondering, what might be in the same ballpark if I were to layer things? Hint of citrus, tons of resins, amber, smoky woods and dark fruit… so I came up with a Frankenstein’s monster of about ten sprays each of Mancera Intense Cedrat Boise and Rayhaan Terra. Now, does it smell anything at all like Jubilation XXV? Nah, not really. But… I’m sitting in a nuclear fragrance cloud that hits all the notes I was looking for and is actually very pleasant to wear. I think it’s a good sign that I can’t stop sniffing my arms. And after a disappointing day of like zero projection off Jubilation, i’m getting the olfactory stimulation I was looking for!