From Olympic Orchids website: "Every year in late winter New Orleans puts on a grand party like no other. It’s a rainbow-hued, glittering, skanky, riotous, celebration of everything there is to celebrate, flowing in and out like a shiny snake amidst the flower-strewn, humidity-drenched, decaying streets of the French Quarter. Mardi Gras may present a polite, rich veneer of real orange blossom and vanilla, like a southern belle delicately munching on a beignet dusted with powdered sugar, but behind the pretty, festive costume are dark undercurrents of voodoo and hoodoo, midnight rituals and outrageous secrets that can only be unleashed under the protective camouflage of the innocent-looking mask."
This gorgeously skanky fragrance features notes of orange blossom, neroli, cistus, benzoin, vanilla, civet and a special musk blend. It is an eau de parfum, edp.
Olympic Orchids Mardi Gras Reviews
cafleurebon: "Mardi Gras is a bewitching and bold scent that offers up everything you’d want to remember and may choose to forget on an olfactory trip down to the Big Easy. It is both sweet and sweaty, and has enough sinful sillage and power to keep you up all night carousing in the streets. I’ve learned that when done well feral perfumes can be absolutely irresistible. They speak to the whole of human nature – musky scents make us aware of the masks we wear in polite society and how urgently we need to let go when the right opportunity arises. The opening of Mardi Gras is disarmingly sensual– soft powdery orange blossom, and a clean, airy vanilla doing their best to distract from a fat, musty, warmed-up flesh civet note. Even though the top notes are sweet and light, don’t fall for their innocence. Because immediately afterwards, a sweet, low, smoky cistus (labdanum) and benzoin accord blends down to a “special musk blend”. The effect this composition has is immediate, direct and unstoppable. Mardi Gras is a growling and sultry scent, and it’s perfectly named – this is a perfume demanding to run wild and if you wear it, you won’t be home before dawn. Mardi Gras is not a timid or demure floral citrus for the vanity table – its total flirtation fuel, and the scent will definitely shadow you the next day, no matter what transpired the night before. It knows your secrets, and worse – it makes you suddenly crave them, in a lip-chewing, damp forehead, “Oh my – I feel a little lightheaded now” kind of way. The orange blossom and vanilla are there for you to think you will politely say to your friends, “I dunno – I don’t really want to meet anyone tonight, think I’ll stay in and read.” But then the cistus and benzoin jump in and you notice how fierce your friends are in their leathers, and you say to yourself, “Okay – just one drink.” And finally, the drydown arrives, and its “special musk blend” combines with all that smoky resin, and soon you’re sweating out every fantasy you can come up with out in the hot summer night of New Orleans. Mardi Gras is a take-no-prisoners, deceiving and delicious perfume. Mardi Gras is without question one of the sexiest perfumes I’ve ever smelled, with a power and presence that can stop anyone you want in their tracks for you to do with as you will. Let the good times roll."
Fragrantica: "This is totally a clever rendition of the candied/marshmallow neroli/orange blossom amber...think Kilian's Love, Don't Be Shy for sure. It cuts the sweetness of the ambery notes and candyfloss ethyl maltol hints with a big animalic musk note. It almost feels as if Muscs Koublai Khan doused itself with the Kilian in an effort to seem more presentable. As is mentioned below, it does hit similar notes to Golden Cattleya, but that one is sans animal if you don't want that aspect of the scent."
Fragrantica: "Perfect name and theme for this skanky white floral + vanilla combo. I get the "beignets dusted with sugar" imagery as promised, and the civet is indeed funky as hell, delivering all the sex and sweat you could hope for. Not surprised some folks find this too raunchy to wear - I've worn this a few times where the civet and musks can lean a bit fecal, in the way that the base of Jicky does - but most of the time it's a beautiful blend of orange blossom, vanilla, and benzoin with just enough funk to keep the blood pumping. My daughter caught a whiff and said it smelled like "doughnuts", so it lives up to the promise on that front. On my wishlist for a full bottle for sure."
Fragrantica: "Mardi Gras opens as a lovely, lush, wicked white floral, with the retro glamour and ambery-animalic base of classic feminines like Narcisse Noir (1911) and My Sin (1924). a few minutes in, Mardi Gras gets *very* big and *very* sweet, with big, blowsy, swoony orange blossom. it’s excessive, indulgent to the point of vulgarity. The sugar is still cut slightly by a hiss of pale musk, but boy oh boy is there a lot of it. I generally prefer more animalics and dark notes, and less sweetness, in my white florals; my beloved Papillon Salome and Bogue Gardelia are more my speed. Mardi Gras, by contrast, goes deep into the floral-syrup zone that overlaps with stuff like Lush Lust and even Mugler Alien. We are in platinum-blonde, red-lipstick land, maybe a little mussed…Courtney Love or Madonna, maybe. About three hours in, the sweetness calms down and Mardi Gras is more wearable: a fluffy, white, floral vanilla-musk. The texture is soft and natural throughout, never harsh. If you *want* a sugary bombshell white floral with a touch of feather-boa fluff, you could do a lot worse than Mardi Gras. but it feels costumey and unnatural on me."
Fragrantica: "First half of this scent is heavy on the Olympic Orchids dna (clean but dirty, pink soap feeling). The white florals begin to peak through and they're heavy, leaning towards a lily or jasmine. However, the white floral lightens up towards the displayed orange blossom, adding some sticky sweetness (stickiness is definitely a sensation done well within OO). Almost honey-like? Running around in a big heavy fur coat but with a little dress under, so you're somehow blanketed yet not covered and warm. Musky, dirty - you sprayed a perfume on in Macys 18 hours ago and have since been drenched in sweat and club smell. Reminiscent of the bubblegum note in Jungle Jezebel. Delicious and animalic. If I smelled this on someone else I'd fall in love."
Fragrantica: "This is an aphrodisiac (at least for me). An innocent but flirty clean and fresh neroli and orange blossom soaked in deep, resinous, and rich vanilla/benzoin opening that dries down with this absolutely INTOXICATING dirty and sexy musk that just oozes confidence. The person who wears this knows what the fuck they want and how to get it. Simultaneously innocent and white floral fresh while being slutty and vanilla sweet, stunning. While I don't see myself rocking this regularly (as it doesn't really fit my personality), I will 100% be giving my sample to my SO to see if I enjoy it on them as much as I do on myself and tester strips. The musk in here is next level amazing, and if you are at all interested in animalic/musky fragrances, but don't like super heavy ones (like me!), you need to get your nose on this. Leans feminine to my nose, but wear what you want. Any time, any place except for work, this would shine as a going out fragrance. Great performance and projection for me, 8-12 hours performance with strong projection for the first half. 9.2/10. Signature scent worthy."
Fragrantica: "Drydown on skin feels very similar to Bee by Zoologist. It’s as if Bee took the base of Mardi Gras and made a full on perfume out of it. Do not think however that this is a dupe for Bee, because the perfumes evolve and behave differently. Olympic Orchids is a very creative, artisanal house that I am starting to respect more and more."
Fragrantica: "Orange blossoms, musky animalic, honey vanilla, leather amber, powder. There's a playful drop of dirtiness which is onputting. It's so pretty. A faded smoke and incense in the dry down. I'm recalling Golden Cattleya by Olympic Orchids and The Lover's Tale by Francesca Bianchi, which for me is a very good thing. Golden Cattleya makes me feel like an angel, and The Lover's Tale makes me feel like a slut. Mardi Gras makes me feel like a slutty angel."
