3 Keepers & a Regret: Cheryl Wischhover

A beauty journalist who left nursing at 40 to tell us what actually works — and what fifty years of diet culture still won't let her forget.

Cheryl Wischhover, of Good For Your Age, birding

3 Keepers and a Regret is a recurring series on Retail Therapy on Substack where I ask people I admire to name 3 things they’d fight to keep — bought, inherited, stolen — and 1 thing they regret.

After 17 years as a pediatric nurse practitioner, Cheryl Wischhover left that career behind at the age of 40. She built a career as a respected fashion journalist, something typically reserved for the young.

Her work still appears in the most significant publications, despite the slaughtering of careers throughout the industry. Among them: Financial Times, Bloomberg, the New York Times and Allure magazine. I’ve been pitching these places forever with zero success.

What draws me to Chery’s work is how she helps give us a safety net to navigate all the anti-aging options blasted at us. She helps us stay sane among the insanity.

You’ll also find her “nicely sarcastic” words at Good For Your Age on Substack. If you owned a Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers, you’ll feel right at home here.

At 50 — not to be outdone by 40 — Cheryl became a birder. “Looking at birds gets me outside and off my phone, plus they have zero judgment about whether or not you have gray hair.”

Looking at birds gets me outside and off my phone, plus they have zero judgment about whether or not you have gray hair. — Cheryl Wischhover

Three Keepers

3 things you’d fight to keep — bought, inherited, stolen

No. 1 — New Balance 327 Sneakers

I’m on my third and fourth pairs of these sneakers (I just bought one pair in black with a subtle leopard accent and one in cream to replace my last pair that had worn out.) I found these a few years ago and am tempted to buy three more pairs just in case New Balance stops making them, because sneakers are always becoming obsolete. They are incredibly comfortable — not too squishy and not too flat. I can walk for miles in them. Plus I love the shape, and they come in some fun colorways. This may be confirmation bias, but I also think they’re the official sneaker of the 40-plus set. I see them on people my age constantly. We just nod knowingly at each other.

Cheryl in her new, New Balance shoes: “the official sneaker of the 40-plus set”

No. 2 — the components for a double cleanse*

I’ve been double cleansing my face for over 15 years. This means you start with either a cleansing balm or cleansing oil to remove sunscreen, makeup, and general gunkiness, then cleanse a second time with a more traditional gel cleanser to get the oil and any remaining icky stuff off your face. I first learned about it years ago at an Elemis skincare event, but it stuck after I got really into K-beauty in the 2010s. The gold standard that I buy most frequently is the Then I Met You Living Cleansing Balm, though I recently splurged and bought a black cherry-scented Elemis cleansing balm. It smells like melted cherry Lip Smackers. If I use oil as the first step instead of balm, I almost always buy Klairs. I don’t really have loyalty to any one product for the second step cleanse, except that it must never be too foaming or stripping. But the one I buy most frequently is probably Indie Lee Brightening Cleanser. It smells like strawberry. I don’t know what this says about me that I like to wash my face with fruit.

*These links are for your convenience, only. They aren’t affiliate links.

“I don’t know what this says about me that I like to wash my face with fruit.”

No. 3 — Nikon Monarch M5 Binoculars

Like many other people, I started birding during the pandemic. It clicked for me, and I became semi-obsessed with it. Birding has so much going for it: gets you outside, keeps you off your phone (except for the Merlin app, which is a must-have if you bird), challenges your memory as you learn the identifying characteristics and calls, gives you membership into a kooky little subculture, provides you a hobby you can do anywhere. (Seriously, some of the best birding I’ve done was in cities. Spring migration in New York City draws people from all over.) Plus, if you keep a life list, it’s like a game. I went to Panama last year and birded all day everyday for six days straight. It was incredible. The Nikon Monarch M5 binoculars are always recommended to beginning birders, and they served me well for five years. (I’ve since upgraded, but I loan them out all the time, and they’re still going strong.)

One Regret

now the regret

I’ve paid for Weight Watchers on and off since I was in my 20s. The last time I did it was probably 2022, as I was facing the repercussions of sitting around during the pandemic and perimenopause. What a waste of time, money, and mindspace, but fifty years of diet culture is hard to shake. As I navigate midlife and a changing body, I’m trying to be kinder to myself.

Fifty years of diet culture is hard to shake

Why I’m Still Shopping

Cheryl found the perfect shoe and of course two pairs aren’t enough. Styles get discontinued constantly. It’s why this season I’ve bought a number of items in triplicate: jeans from Madewell in three different washes; pull-on pants from Gap Outlet in three different colors; and three colors of the Foundation V-Neck Tank from Athleta. I also did this with two other types of pants, in three and five colors, but I think you get the picture.

I have to imagine Cheryl’s skin-care routine smells delicious. I find the number of steps daunting. How does she keep track? There’s probably an app for that. I’ve learned the hard way to not buy skincare products just because they work for someone else. The amount of money I’ve spent on things I only used once is horrifying. And you can’t donate it because it’s been opened.

Cheryl’s birding activity overlaps with my obsession with native plants. They attract each other. While I can appreciate birds, I haven’t gotten into birding. Looking in binoculars always freaks me out. But I do feel like I’d be comfortable going with Cheryl and having her as my guide. Not that she offered.

As for the regret, Cheryl says the awkward part outloud. No amount of therapy or self-help has blocked out the noise of diet culture. I still hear it. It tells me everything is wrong with my body and my approach to not gaining weight. And when I’m most uncomfortable in my own skin, I return to what’s familiar, like Weight Watchers or cutting carbs. Even when I already know it doesn’t work.

Thanks to Cheryl Wischhover for sharing her skincare shelf. Put on your Kissing Potion and go subscribe to Good For Your Age.

When life stops making sense, we shop. More soon.

Rani Monson