Hot chocolate in front of a roaring log fire • ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ for the ‘gawd knows how many’ time • Morecambe and Wise performing ‘When your smiling’ • The Two Ronnies – ‘four / fork candles’ scene • chestnuts roasting • After Eight mints • candlelight • mince pies • Baileys coffee • Julie Andrews running through the hills in ‘The Sound of Music’ • snowman • letters to Santa • the office party shannighans • candy cane • advent calendars • family • friends • mulled wine • sequins • glitter and finally …

… Micheal Bublé

You know Christmas is only an excitable breathe, and a click of your Dorothy-esq heels away when you hear Mr Bublé on the radio, you have his CD playing on repeat and your dancing to his tunes while peeling your spuds.Is there anything more Christmassy ?

After Santa Mr Bublé IS Mr Christmas. The good news is along with his many other attributes he has also released a  perfume. A scent personally put together by the man himself.

You may never get the pleasure to meet him in person BUT say you should [pick me up off the floor please] you could live in the safe knowledge you smell the way he likes his ladies to smell. I suppose you could say you are wearing a little piece of Mr Buble.

‘By Invitation‘ was actually released in 2016. Mr Bublé wanted to create a scent that his wife could wear [ it has her beautiful seal of approval ] and it is said to be a love letter to his fans.

“The idea was to create a special ‘invitation’ to fans into my new world of fragrance, I’m inviting women to enjoy a beautiful scent that represents my personal taste and imagination. By Invitation is what I’d call ‘love in a bottle’ “ – Micheal Bublé

It definitely looks the part and this bottle would make a welcome addition to any dressing table.

It’s very chic looking, under-stated and thankfully doesn’t have Micheal Bublés signature sprawled all over it , which quite frankly would have cheapened it in my humble opinion. All there is are his initials engraved discreetly on the base of the bottle.

I suppose the most important thing you want to know is what does it smell like?

I’m not sure about you but  celebrity fragrances have a certain stigma to them  and are often seen as ‘naff’.

Let me tell you I was very pleasantly surprised.

By Invitation is the result of Buble’s collaboration with leading French perfumer Karine Dubreuil-Sereni , who has worked for multiple fragrance houses.

” Creating Micheal’s first fragrance was a unique and exciting experience for me. I rarely get the freedom to use the finest ingredients to create a prestige fragrance for women, but with Micheal, I didn’t have any restrictions. I imagined myself as the woman who would wear the dream perfume of his imagination. The result is beautiful and exquisitely reflects the way he would love a woman to smell “  Ms Dubreuil-Sereni

Right I suppose its around -about here that I have to hold my hands up  and confess I’m strictly a ‘Black Orchid’ by Tom Ford girl normally.

I like my fragrances masculine, boudoir-esq and musky with hints of bergamot and vanilla.

I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find out By Invitation contained all the ingredients I love. Top notes of red fruits and bergamot, lily of the valley, wild jasmine and spicy inflections of peony, sandlewood and vanilla .

It is a beautiful combination which smells delicious, not overly floral ; sweet or sickly. It’s a serious contender to knock Black Orchid off top spot. But ssshhhh don’t tell Tom!

It’s warm and welcoming ; I’m pleased to say the scent lingers for a good few hours before you need to apply another squirt . Like Mr Bublé it’s tall, dark and handsome … or rather a class act , with serious sex appeal .

It’s a scent I can imagine would appeal to everyone – girlfriends, mums, sisters, daughters alike. I was recently at an event and got complimented twice and asked what fragrance I was wearing . That’s not happened for a while I can tell you !

It would make the ideal Christmas and for all us December babies [hint hint] a fabulous birthday gift.

And finally just when you thought it couldn’t get any better …

it does.

Included in the Holiday Gift Set  [£45.00 ] is a free 150ml By Invitation Luxury Shower Gel which comes beautifully presented in a cream box alongside the 50ml Eau De Parfum.

What are you waiting for … go forth and release your inner Bublé !

Until next time

Tracey x

• Thankyou to the guys at Thirty Plus for gifting me with the Holiday Gift Set. As always all words and opinions are strictly my own.