Does anyone remember Forever Krystle? This scent was truly ahead of its time. In an era when the only name in "celebrity fragrance" was Elizabeth Taylor, this was a perfume based on a fictional nighttime soap character. That's right...Krystle Carrington, oil queen extraordinaire from Dynasty, had her very own fragrance.

And this powdery, floral scent is what I most associate with my grandmother's bathroom in the '80s. But not in a bad way! I promise! Gram has always had good taste in fragrance, and other things, too - Ralph Lauren Safari and Lancome Tresor are among her other scent picks, and even at 90, her hair is always perfect and her outfits always coordinate. (Here's a picture of the two of us at her 90th birthday this summer!)

And, honestly, even for an early celebrity perfume, Forever Krystle was pretty well done.

The reason I bring it up today is that I recently sampled Jo Malone's latest, Vanilla & Anise, at my local Neiman's, and was instantly whisked back to days playing with Gram's Krystle powder puff in, say, 1988.

The opening is somewhat citrusy, but when it dries down, Vanilla & Anise has that same warm-but-powdery feel of Forever Krystle (especially the Krystle body powder, which I remember fondly). It's definitely more modern, though, and has a warmer vanilla base than the heady florals that seemed to dominate Krystle.

Vanilla & Anise is entirely too powdery for me, and not really my taste, but hey, I can now cross Gram off my Christmas list! Jo Malone's latest is an updated, modern version of her old favorite. And any 90-year old woman who rocks Jo Malone in her powder room is a beauty icon, at least in my eyes. Merry early Christmas, Gram!