Jeffrey Dame's Small Talk February 2026

Welcome back to Jeffrey Dame's Small Talk. First, three perfumes to consider for February:

Soliflore Gardenia..true, pure & real. A perfect blend of lift and depth on a cold day.

Sonoran Black Flower Mexican Vanilla...cozy comfort to sink in to as flurries flurry.

Chocolate+ Perfume Oil...marshmallows to snack on optional.

The big easy chair reading list for February:

Favorite Daughter Book Club joint selection for weekends Adam Johnson The Wayfinder. A highly readable yarn. New free-time mid-week novel I will be cracking open soon What We Can Know from Ian McEwan. The latest temptation added to my to-read list Charlotte Wood's Stone Yard Devotional "An Exquisite, Wrenching Novel of Leaving Your Life Behind" says Lauren Christensen.

Screening in the dark of night:

I've always been enchanted with song, dance and romance films. Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons in Guys and Dolls , Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds in Singin' In The Rain, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Top Hat, etc etc etc. But the musical which continues to beguile me is Les Parapluies de Cherbourg [The Umbrellas of Cherbourg] from 1963 directed by Jacques Demy with Catherine Deneauve and Nino Castelnuovo. Not so much a musical as a singing drama. One-of-a-kind and just brilliant. On HBO/Max at this moment. Give it a look see.

For cookers, eaters and drinkers: