the snow crunches loudly under your boots, the fir trees carry a heavy winter load. it has been snowing continuously for the last few days and a white blanket spreads out, covering everything in soft silence.
you are relieved to have left the people who were just at valentin's funeral behind you. to be alone with yourself and your sore heart. you miss him very much. valentin. his smile, his seriousness and the wonderful, loving openness with which he met everything human.
the walk in the clear, cold winter air does you good, grounds you. as dusk approaches, the cold gradually penetrates your clothes and makes you shiver. now hurry home and snuggle up.
after a few steps, you come to a clearing you've never seen here before. a small wooden hut nestles at its edge. smoke rises from the chimney, small windows glow in warm light. a very old woman stands in the doorway and beckons you to join her. without knowing why, you accept her invitation and enter her hut.
the inside feels familiar, and at the same time strangely diffuse, like an indeterminate dream, another world in which nothing earthly matters anymore. somewhere a fire crackles, its flickering light fills you with warmth.
the old woman, wrapped in an orange cloak, walks into the middle of the room, silently opens a hatch in the floor and looks at you invitingly. without any hesitation, you step through the hatch, down into the earth realm. darkness surrounds you.
you feel how you gradually begin to sink gently downwards. dreamlike. far in the distance thoughts - what am i doing here? - without meaning. deeper and deeper you sink into the earth, safely carried by the darkness that surrounds you.
at some point, time plays no role down here, you arrive. a small cave opens up around you. you sit in a circle with people you don't know, all silent. and naked. you accept it unmoved.
you know: you are exactly right here, you are with yourself. with everything that defines you. grief, joy, pain, love, loneliness, connectedness, courage and fear... everything is there, uncompromisingly clear, honest and uncomfortable in a soothing, liberating way.
you breathe in deeply, the warmth of a distant glow spreads comfortingly through you. everything is good.
**
deep dark vanilla is a real, honest, straightforward d.s. & durga. for the first time, i feel like i recognize the dna of the house in the scent.
for me, it starts fresh and brightly spicy for a very short time, almost resinous. and then a deeply authentic patchouli rolls into the picture with full force. this is exactly how the essential oil smells when it is of high quality and natural. dry-earthy, dark, rough to the point of sharpness. and as patchouli does: it remains very present the whole time. once there - you can't get rid of it;)
yes, woody notes are also perceptible, as well as a green plant stem note that gives the fragrance its uprightness. but one thing above all: patchouli.
very shortly after the opening, a wonderfully clear vanilla joins in. no, not the cookie dough kind, really not. a pure, warm-spicy vanilla that lays itself on the rough presence of the patchouli, making it a little warmer, I almost want to say soft. but no, the fragrance really isn't soft.
it is pitch black and deep, just as the name promises. aren't cypresses deep-rooted?
and it is far from being sweet, not even in the slightest. a green-spiced, rough earth beauty that is not afraid of honesty. not a sweet-soft veil that has to cover the harsh reality.
completely different from
Memoirs Of A Trespasser, for example, which I like very much, but which for me is a fragrance to snuggle up in when I feel too tender for the outside world. which would be unwearable for me without the smoke, because it's so soft and sweet and cozy. it's also super artificial in my nose - the opposite of this d.s. & durga fragrance in this respect too.
i tested deep dark vanilla for the first time in warmer temperatures and it was too much for me, i found it very tiring. for me it only works in winter, max. 10°c. maybe even only in snow?
i like it. today i'm wearing the penultimate splashes from my sample, because i feel like warmth, like being wrapped up in a safe, strengthening environment, but in the capricorn way (astrologically speaking): no frills, no surprises, no soft focus.
like the tender, relentless healing power of the earth that carries us and keeps us upright.
Top Notes 
Cabreuva
Orchid
Pink pepper
Heart Notes 
Cypress root
Vanilla orchid leaf
Vine
Base Notes 
Vanilla absolute
Hay
Patchouli
bouffant
JC6
Katzevogel
Offdutypunk
