Believe

It's Christmas Eve and your lil ones are expecting Old St. Nick to make his appearance tonight. If you're not the type to don a white beard and pillows stuffed under a red jacket, we've got some other ideas that will keep your babes believing in Santa Claus.

Chances are the kids will leave out cookies for the jolly old man and his crew of reindeer. Santa always managed to find time to put the dishes away at our house, which didn't make sense when he had to deliver toys to the rest of the world!

So before the kids come down in the morning, leave a trail of crumbs near the fireplace or at least on the table. The kids will be thrilled to see Santa's evidence.

As a child, I swore that I heard Prancer and Vixen on the roof one Christmas Eve. Get into the spirit and jingle some bells around midnight when the kids think Santa might be making his appearance.

The last thing you can do to add to Santa's magic is to leave some sort of belongings around the house. Maybe an elf hat was left behind during the gift drop or one of Santa's black buttons popped off when he ate too many of your child's delicious cookies.

Have fun playing along – the innocence doesn't last forever.

Most of you said you're tired of celebrity fragrances, and, well, I'm feeling overwhelmed by them, too. While some, like Covet by Sarah Jessica Parker, are created with a lot of input from the star in question, others seem to be patched together with little or no input. I could be way off-base here, but I have a feeling Britney's new fragrance, Believe, falls into the latter category. Considering her odd behavior this year, I find it hard to, er, believe, that she's had the time to be deeply involved in Believe's development.

Still, the scent is expected to do at least $10 million in US sales during its first year, and WWD reports on its fragrant notes:

The scent, by International Flavors and Fragrances, has top notes of guava pulp and golden tangerine; a heart of honeysuckle and linden blossom, and a drydown of patchouli aura, sensual amber and pink pralines.

WWD says that Believe is "arguably the most sophisticated" of Britney's fragrances, but those notes sound pretty sugary and young to me. And the packaging, while more grown-up than the looks of Curious and Fantasy, is still more girly than womanly. Believe ($38–$58) launches in October, but if you pre-order online, yours will ship earlier.

First she was Curious, then she had a Fantasy, and soon Britney Spears will add one more scent to her fragrance collection. In October, Britney Spears Believe will arrive in Macy's and other department stores. So far, there's no word on what this scent will smell like, but details should roll out soon.

Believe is a logical progression in Britney's naming choices. She began dating Kevin Federline in late 2004, at almost exactly the same time as the Curious launch. The following year brought Fantasy, which debuted the day after Britney gave birth to Sean Preston. And now, as she prepares her comeback single, there's Believe—perhaps a not-so-coded message to fans who want to see her succeed?

Considering Britney's bizarre behavior as of late, marketing Believe is going to be a challenge, to put it mildly. Page Six reports that Brit ditched the photo shoot for Believe's packaging. And although she's appearing on the cover of next month's Allure—perhaps the best place to promote her new fragrance—there's no interview because Britney flaked on her appointment four times.

So what do you think? Will Believe make millions of dollars like Curious and Fantasy did? Or are Brit's hijinks alienating her fans? Or does it all come down to how good this fragrance smells?

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