Mardi Gras

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.

One of the sexiest perfumes Ive tried, Mardi Gras is an insanely delicious orange blossom and civet fragrance, softed perfectly by a base of resins and vanilla. The civet is here is a bit feral, yes, but it sticks close to skin and gets tamed by natural orange blossom and neroli, creating a refined and vintage feeling contrast between bitter citrus and funk. Then, sugary sweet vanilla and resins comes in at the base, softening the entire composition. Mardi Gras lives up to all the promised indulgence of sex, sweets, and celebrations. I find it beautifully marries vintage skanky sexiness with modern gourmand i-want-to-eat-you-up style attraction, a perfect date night fragrance. The sillage is nothing to sneeze at either, forming a strong scent bubble. The orange blossom especially projects strongly for a surprisingly long time. As usual of Olympic Orchids, the longevity is also robust. It doesnt quite last all day on me but it very feasibly could on someone else. Verrry tempted to FB this given the price and performance, but I'm resisting, for now.

Wow. I'm quite surprised and pleasantly so! I ordered a sample set from Olympic Orchids in which I could choose 10 1mI samples from their catalog. I chose 9, and when ordering, I added in the notes that I'd like Ms. Covey to choose a 10th for me based on my other selections. I was excited to see which other one I'd receive. She chose this one. I'm not normally an orange blossom fan, but I applied this one lightly and I can smell the other musky notes, including civet (which I have had limited exposure to, but enjoy what I have experienced) and benzoin/amber. For being an orange blossom scent, I like it quite well! A little goes a long way with this one, as I understand is usually the case with Olympic Orchids. I won't buy a bottle of Mardi Gras, but I'll thoroughly enjoy my sample. edit: 12/11/22. I've since purchased this sample again from OO. I might actually buy it sometime. I really love it.

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. (I need to directly compare them, but my memory is that Golden Cattleya from the same house is very similar but without the civet funk; so if you like the profile but can't hang with the skank, definitely sample that one.)

What a scent! I've been waiting forever (literally, about a year) to get my samples from my niece in MN, where I had them sent. The joys of living in Haiti! haha This is an incredible experience! Right from the beginning, I get the skanky honey that I so adore. It's a sweet scent, and it certainly could smell like unwashed flesh to a particular nose, but to me, it smells glorious! The orange blossom and musk hover just below the surface for me, helping to orchestrate the overall aroma, but not really standing out. If anything, it's definitely the honey that dominates. For those of you who have smelled Olympic Orchid's Tropic of Capricorn, this has a lot of similarities. It's not a dupe, but both are beautiful animalic, sweet, floral scents that I adore. I intend to try them side-by-side at some point, since i have a small bottle of TOC.

I bought my first bottle of Mardi Gras in 2021 from Ecuacion Natural and I became utterly enamoured with this scent. I'd given a little decant, among other perfume decants, to a close friend of mine and she texted me a couple of days later saying that she wanted to buy one for herself as she became as well infatuated with this potion. On my skin, it is very syrupy, sweet, and magical. I get the orange blossom on a vanillic velvety bed. I get the civet as well but it's never funky or untamed. I guess there might be some magic in this potion. Exquisite, stunning perfume!! Update: I bought a new bottle in 2022 and the new batch is more musky than syrupy, unfortunately. I also find it not so long-lasting. The magical candied orange blossom is more tamed and I find this batch less exquisite. Has anyone else experienced this?

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.

This is just so utterly fantastic. I chose this sample randomly, and didn't pay much attention to the notes. . . it was mainly vanilla . . . But oh my goodness so rich and deep and bright. Resonant. Intoxicating. I guess my skin *really* loves civet . . . It is such a lovely scent, and also brings out the addict in me; a perfume to collect and hoard and drown in, and to take with me everywhere; I NEED it, lots of it, for *every* possible situation. It is very strong and lasts quite a long time, which surprises me as not many perfumes last on my skin. Ellen Covey, you're awesome. This is absolute heaven

Woah! I cant believe I've fallen for a fragrance with civet in!?! I normally avoid fragrance with anything furry in like the plague. I took a sniff without checking on the notes (clearly I must do this more often!). It is anamalic but its sweet and resinous as well. I do get the neroli, musk and vanilla for sure. The result is very close to the smell of British milk chocolate on me. Moderate sillage and lasts for many hours. Ms Covey has created yet another winner. It looks like there will be another order soon!

Mardi Gras is heavily musky, surrounded by lush white blooms with a touch of sweetness and airy citrus. It smells "skanky" when it is first applied, but settles down to a sassy fruity musk, with quite a heavy punch from almost every note; I don't get the resins. Still, it is quite smooth, pleasant, and easy to wear. It is my favorite of all the Olympic Orchids scents I have tried. Mardi Gras has a certain coyness to it; plush, pleasant citrus and white flowers to mask the {literal} animal behind it.

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.

This is astonishingly good, civety sweet & little bitter orange blossom deepen with creamy benzoin. Mardi Gras is a little piece of perfumery art. It reminds me of old fashioned French civety florals but it's more like a modern interpretation of classic French style. I do agree that Ellen Covey is a perfume magician, I have tried some of her formulas and they are all very rich & sophisticated, well balanced also very wearable - top quality stuff

Mardi Gras took me a few wearing to get used to and I'm starting to really like this one, still not getting any neroli or orange blossom on my skins, I got a hint of honey and menthol, along with vanilla and benzoin, the civet and musk are very faint, not animalic on my skins at all, no particular note that really jumps out to me, overall it's very well blended and quite ethereal. I just can't stop sniffing my wrist, very addicting stuff.

Trick-or-treating as a child in an inland empire suburb; fragrant fall flora in cool evening air. Late season orange jasmine and maybe osmanthus. Chocolate and sweets in a pillow case. Mystery and safety, dressing up, walking around my magically transformed neighborhood with friends as the stars came out. No other fragrance has evoked this for me. I really love it. How interesting to perceive innocence where others find debauchery.

Wow this is some captivating juice it's sweet syrupy thick orange blossom/neroli it's a little bit resinous and its got that fuzzy cozy musk/animalic accord sort of like musc ravageur has, not a similar scent just the texture of that musk/animalic accord is similar smelling. A touch of vanilla. Yeah, I love this.

Sweet benzoin, vanilla, neroli, as well as the animalic touch of civet and ambergris. Feels like a good, feminine party scent, or something that wouldn't be out of place at a fairgrounds, or, surprise-surprise, a Mardi Gras celebration. Bubbly, intoxicating, and sexy. 7.5/10

It’s giving candy necklaces and the inside of the Hove perfume shop in the French Quarter. I bought a small bottle because the sample both intrigued and nauseated me. (Honestly, that’s usually a good sign.)

favorite going out fragrance. very skanky. don’t usually love vanilla but love it in this

Initially took me somewhere far away, like Morocco or Egypt? Before really grasping any said threads, we come crashing down to the familiar. Though civet, benzoin and vanilla are forefront, the exotic is only implied; this scent feels very American. Where "Kyphi"'s benzoin explores the ancient and austere "Mardi Gras"' throws a party. Slutty, dirty, fun, and yet not without consequence. Covey wouldn't make a scent that is purely merrymaking- "Mardi Gras" is hiding a hangover. An elusive element of the confined, stale, and esoteric is lurking nearly undetectable between whiffs. Evokes many memories, including one of early childhood in which my parents threw a large party with aging bohemians. I remember my queasiness in watching the blur of peacock feathers, corduroy, & tambourines.The party is seemingly unending and I wish someone would open a window. This scent falls into an unpleasantly nostalgic category: a touch too vivid in its disquiet. But, I'm impressed! Something I'd imagine Tom Waits would wear. Evolves into something more feminine throughout the dry down as the neroli steps forward. I will admit, I don't love that civet insists on sticking to fabric. Be sure to wash clothes after wearing unless you like smelling vaguely indolic.

I live in southeast Michigan and although marijuana was only legalized somewhat recently, there have always been these “head shops” that sell smoking apparatus under the guise that it’s for tobacco. There’s always a wooden shelf filled with dozens of different scents of incense sticks by some company I forget the name of. There’s “fizzy pop” and “dragon’s breath” and some of them have glitter on their stems. Anyway standing in front of that shelf of incense and smelling the collective fragrance emanating from it is exactly where Mardi Gras takes me. I have been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras and I do feel a connection there too. I can picture walking around in the streets, seeing all the drunk people in costume, occasionally going into some witchcraft shop... I love how this smells but I think it would have to be a very specific occasion for me to wear it. I’ve been wearing it around the house just because I love to smell it. It’s floral and dusty and incensy and takes me back to my deadhead high school years going into head shops and having the store associate watch me like a hawk wondering if they should kick me out or not. I almost want to say this reminds me of the Grateful Dead while Cryptical Envelopement reminds me of Steely Dan.