Ask James: ‘My Boyfriend Is Secretly Bothered About His Thinning Hair. What Do I Do?’

James Kavanagh answers your queries and quibbles as only a gas bitch can.

My boyfriend’s hair is thinning and I think it’s secretly bothering him. He’s very emotionally quiet and wouldn’t let you know if something was upsetting him. I saw you got your hair sorted. Any advice for approaching him, or what to do? Ciara, Dublin

The amount of DMs I get from men starting with “Please keep this message a secret and don’t share it” etc is mad. Hair loss and its effect on men is still very much taboo and it can be a tricky subject to approach. The solution depends on the specific hair loss pattern of the person – it’s all slightly different.

There are amazing hair thickening fibres you can buy, Regaine, medication to slow the hair loss down… I think you should buy him a consultation (€250) in HRBR for his birthday (that’s what I did) and go from there. They’ll then advise him on what route to take that suits his situation best. It might cause temporary awkwardness, but he’ll go and he’ll thank you later.

My friend eats beige food and not much else. I worry about her and her limited palate. Any advice on how I can introduce her to more exciting food? Róisín, Galway

First of all, there is nothing wrong with beige food. It’s my favourite kind to be honest; pasta, curry, crisps, chocolate. But it doesn’t have to be boring and lends itself well to splashes of colour. Find out what her favourite beige food is and delicately, but deliciously, expand on it and embellish it. So, if she likes plain chips (potatoes), make her a gratin which can be laced with herbs, gruyere etc. Maybe serve her a baked potato topped with chilli etc. She’ll be dining on lobster with you soon enough.

You always have nice selfies. How do I do nice ones? I always end up looking like a potato in a wig. Rachel, Cork

Lighting. Angles. The two main ingredients in a well-cooked selfie. I don’t care what anyone says, phone flashes aren’t auspicious for a hot AF selfie; you need natural daylight (or one of those ring lights) – I actually quite like overcast vibes rather than direct sunlight. Once you have the good light, you need to figure out which bit of your face is the most bangin’ bit.

Hold your phone on selfie mode and slowly start rotating your face around and snap away as you do. Once you’ve basically scanned your whole face, look through the pictures and see what’s the best one. When you see it you’ll just know, and that’s your angle! Mine is left side, head tilted slightly back. Good luck babes, you got this.

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