John Hughes’s classic coming-of-age rom-com Pretty in Pink turns 40 this month. Starring none other than Hughes’s teenage muse Molly Ringwald as Andie, the movie is, more than anything, a lesson that nice guys don’t finish last. Instead, they have a long, on-screen lip-synch session to Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness,” which—as enacted by Jon Cryer’s eccentric Duckie—ends up being the most memorable scene in the whole film. Besides Duckie, who desperately wants to claw his way out of the friend zone, Andie’s pickings are slim: there’s Andrew McCarthy’s preppy and spineless Blane and James Spader’s arrogant douchebag with a Miami Vice wardrobe and Princess Diana hair, Jeff. It’s perhaps the truest depiction of the “plenty of fish in the sea” encouragement everyone keeps raving about. (tv.apple.com) —Carolina de Armas

Cynics will say romance is dead and that Valentine’s Day is a front for consumer culture. But Balenciaga doesn’t care—they’re in the mood for love. Back by popular demand, their Valentine Series is getting physical in more ways than one. The collection explores the quantum realm, brandishing physicist Paul Dirac’s “Love Equation,” the theory that two objects, once connected, will never separate, regardless of distance. The garments are purposefully ratty, as if to prove that signs of wear and tear are also signs of cherishing. Here, you can impress your crush with complex equations, but in style! ($750, balenciaga.com) —Maggie Turner

Am I anxious to recall the crippling self-consciousness and unrequited yearning inherent in the experience of being a 17-year-old girl? Usually, no, but when it comes to Dodie Smith’s whimsical bildungsroman, I make an exception. Set in the English countryside in the 1930s, the novel—written by Smith before she came to fame for One Hundred and One Dalmations—tells the story of the eccentric Mortmain family through the diaries of the teenage protagonist, Cassandra Mortmain. The family—which includes Cassandra’s father, a celebrated novelist now paralyzed with writer’s block; her Bohemian stepmother, Topaz; and her beautiful older sister, Rose—resides in a crumbling English castle, living off their father’s dwindling royalties. When a pair of wealthy American brothers move in next door, Cassandra’s quiet world is upended, and Smith depicts with great tenderness a teenage girl’s most excruciating rite of passage: falling in love. ($19, amazon.com) —Paulina Prosnitz

Everybody knows that Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, and William Shakespeare were geniuses, but they seem to forget a little someone named Pietro Ferrero. Long left out of history books, this man among men gave us something our taste buds will never forget: Nutella. Ferrero conceived the guilty-pleasure hazelnut spread in 1946. But it debuted after his death in 1964, followed by other tours de force such as Ferrero Rocher, Tic Tac, and, perhaps best of all, Kinder. A new coffee-table book from Assouline explores every facet of Nutella, diving into its making, versatility, and popularity today. ($120, assouline.com) —Jeanne Malle

“You smell good” may, in fact, be one of the few polite and socially acceptable euphemisms for “I want to get in your pants.” This Valentine’s Day, why not treat yourself to a perfume that beckons lustful strangers in a way not seen since Monica Bellucci at that Sicilian piazza in Malèna. Our scent of choice is Frédéric Malle’s Musc Ravageur, an amber blend with notes of vanilla, cinnamon, and musk. Warning: do not wear if you are married—unless you are open, or French. ($225, fredericmalle.com) —Carolina de Armas

Alone on Valentine’s Day? Be not sad. As the world outside begins to resemble the full-moon mating frenzy of the opalescent squid, crack open Sylvia Townsend Warner’s 1948 novel about nuns eking out an existence in a 14th-century convent and one night of celibacy might not seem so bad. In The Corner That Held Them, rarely does desire raise its head as the nuns busy themselves with dishonest bishops, honest con men, collapsing spires, inconclusive visions, ecclesiastical intrigues, catty infighting, attempts at levitation, and the plague. There are few more entertaining, or magical, depictions of the solitary life. Take it as your partner for the night. ($18.95, amazon.com) —George Pendle