Pros and Cons of University

Graduation was full of mixed feelings really, finishing university was a huge relief for me because it signified the end of 3 years of really hard work and 3 years of fighting with myself to not drop out before the final hurdle. I don't think young people get enough information about university before applying because they think it's the natural 'next step' so I've put together a list of pros and cons so you might be able to answer the question 'Should I go to university?' a little bit more easily.

Pros of going to university

- You should hopefully widen your knowledge of a subject you love and come out with a degree

- You meet some lovely people

- You get student discount in lots of shops

- Even if you can't afford to go the government will help with fees
- Some professions require degree level education (but it's still well worth looking at alternative routes if you're still unsure about university)
- It gives you a taste of independent 'adult' living
- There's opportunity to have a fantastic social life
- If you choose to, you can get involved in lots of interesting extra-curricular activities and societies

- There are student loans to help with fees and maintenance

Cons of going to university 

- Your degree definitely does not guarantee you a job

- It can be very cliquey

- It is very hard work and if you are not willing to push yourself it probably isn't for you

- It costs A LOT and you will be left with debt (although Martin Lewis will tell you that tuition fee debt isn't a bad debt)

- You cannot afford (in money or time) to party all the time in the second and third year, it is NOT a three year party unless you want to come out with a rubbish classification (unless you are a superhuman genius who can bash out an A grade essay in 8 hours)

- Be prepared for it to be a massive shock to the system, I honestly thought it was going to be the making of me; moving to Leeds and starting a new chapter of my life, living the big city lifestyle.... When in reality I didn't fit in with my flatmates, it cost an absolute fortune and I ended up back at home permanently after Christmas, and I still had to pay full rent as the terms and conditions stated that unless you personally found a new occupant, you had to pay the rent whether you were there or not.

- Driving to and from Leeds was such a pain, especially when some days I only had an hour or 2 of teaching so make sure that if you don't want to live near your university that you don't go somewhere too far from home!

If you're really unsure about university you need to ask your in-school/college careers advisor to recommend some alternative routes into what you want to do. There are some fantastic degree-level apprenticeships out there, it's just a case of finding the right one for you.

How to Overcome a Fear of the Dentist

So yesterday I had my first dental treatment in over 5 years... A pretty big bit of repair work to a previously filled tooth that had broken.

To put it bluntly I was shitting myself. But I had made the first step to overcoming a fear of the dentist.

The only experiences I ever remembered with a dentist were bad, my old dentist was rough, made me bleed and basically scared me for what I thought was life, I never thought I would set foot in a dentist ever again. My philosophy became 'if it don't hurt don't fix it' and although my broken tooth didn't hurt I knew it was inevitable that it would one day break even more.

The sound of the drill, the sensation, the trepidation and the fear of needles just kept me away completely and it's been a fair while since my tooth first broke and as I suspected, more came off last week so I had to bite the bullet (thankfully not in a literal sense) and book in.

Honestly this time last week I did not think I'd be writing this post, and don't get me wrong I am not completely rid of my phobia, but at the end of the day I don't think the dentist will ever be a pleasant experience But my aim is to try and make it a bearable experience, so here are my top tips for getting on the road to getting a bit of confidence back.

Image from weheartit

1. Think about why you have a fear, if it is something that your current dentist has done then consider changing; I think a lot of fear derives from the association of bad things; for example my dentist always got angry if I ever got upset; he never attempted to try and put me at ease he just told me to 'shut up and stop being so stupid'... Not good when you already feel silly for being upset. Ask around your friends and Family and see who they go to or who they've heard is good.

2. If you can afford it, go private. I know this isn't for everyone because it can get very expensive depending on your treatment. A check up at my new dentist costs £60 I think whereas NHS is around £20 I believe; yes this is expensive but I see it as an investment... I know she's going to do her best not to hurt me and I know she has the patience. TIME is very pressing with NHS dentists and often they are pressed for time and need you in and out as quick as possible which is why they aren't always accommodating when you need a bit of extra support. The one I go to is a 'minimal intervention' dentist which means that they work on prevention of problems rather than the cure. Plus if you are in desperate need of treatment, they generally don't have waiting lists.

3. Walk through the door; no matter how hard it is I recommend just going into the dentist and making an appointment, even with the NHS, book in for a check up. Turn up on the day, walk into the room and explain to the dentist what the problem is; only have him/her do what you are comfortable with. For example the first time I went I was in tears as soon as I walked in, I explained the obvious (that I was petrified) and she asked me to sit on the chair, I didn't lay down I just sat and chatted for 5 minutes and then I said that I was happy to lay back and let her have a look, providing she didn't put the hook thing in my mouth or touch any of my teeth, which she was fine with... She did at one point ask to put the hook in to test one tooth which I agreed to and she was soo gentle! She then took some X-rays (easy, pain free) and finally treated my teeth with a fluoride solution (again, easy and pain free) and BAM that was it, my first dental appointment over with and I walked out wondering what I fussed about. REMEMBER that YOU are paying the dentist to provide a service, whether NHS or private and you do not have to let them do anything you don't want, providing you are polite the dentist should be very obliging and understand your needs.

4. ASK for anything... Dentistry nowadays is way more advanced than it was even 5 years ago, I didn't know numbing gel even existed so when I had an anaesthetic injection I asked for plenty of numbing gel and she really did coat my whole gum in the stuff which meant that I didn't even feel the injection going in! Some dentists also have new technology called 'air abrasion' which means that where possible they will not use a drill; basically they blast away the bits of decay with tiny particles which makes it relatively noise and pain free!! At the end of the day... If you don't ask, you don't get.

5. Occupy your mind. If you actually get sat down in a dentist chair, first of all MASSIVE WELL DONE, be proud of yourself and second of all try and keep your mind occupied, it might sound totally daft and you might think it will never work but it does for me... I close my eyes and wiggle my toes, the right side 10 times and the left side 10 times, just the counting from side to side makes you think of something other than what's going on in your mouth.

6. Reward yourself, I know dentist treatment is expensive in itself but try and give yourself a treat afterwards; whether it's a lipstick you've been umm-ing and ahh-ing over for ages or just a takeaway later that night... Rewards aren't just for children, they work for adults too!!! My reward last night was an indian takeaway because I'd not had one in ages!

I hope this has helped someone in some way, if it gets one of my readers to a dentist after a number of years then I will be very happy... Trust me I never thought I would ever visit a dentist except unlesss I was totally sedated but I have broken the barriers and the feeling when Id had my filling was immense, I felt so proud of myself!!!

Please, Please, Please try and go, I know I sound like your mum now but I really regret leaving it so long because your teeth are such an important part of your body; everyone looks at them when you talk and healthy looking teeth will make you far more confident... and most importantly we all know how painful tooth ache is, so don't let it get to that stage!!

Uses for TCP

I hated the thought of this when I was little, when I had a cut or a graze this was seriously the most painful antiseptic ever!! But as I've got older I've realised how good this is for spots. Yes it stinks, everyone knows you've used it because you can smell it a mile off, but I can just about deal with that, especially when I'm trying treat spot prone skin.

Basically what I do with this is I pop it onto a cotton wool pad and sweep it over the affected area (if you have already broken the skin this stings more than normal so beware!). If the spot is just red, LEAVE IT ALONE... as tempting as it is to try and squeeze the life out of it, please don't, I speak from experience and I now have numerous scars on my face from spots which weren't ready to be popped. However, if it does have a white head on it, you can do something about it as long as you're hygienic, which again is where TCP comes in.

First of all, wash your hands and then once you have wiped the affected area with TCP, I then suggest that you wipe your fingers with TCP to give you extra protection from reinfecting the open spot. Then using some tissue over your fingers, gently squeeze the spot until the lovely gunk has come out of it... then immediately after, with a fresh cotton pad, sweep some more TCP over it and hold it on the spot for a minute or so to make sure you have made it as antiseptic as possible.

I know you can get all these posh 'spot zappers' but 9/10 I've found that they don't really work for me and they are a bit of a rip off. I find that if I use TCP on a big angry red spot it will reduce the redness and swelling and make it more manageable in terms of covering it up and sorting out any possible infection. And the best thing about this is that it's available pretty much everywhere; Superdrug, Savers, Supermarkets, Boots... you should be able to pick this up somewhere no matter how rubbish your local shops are!!

John Frieda Full Repair Review

Normally I'm going on about trying to find the perfect haircare for greasy hair, but there are occasions when my hair has just needs an injection of moisture and shine to it because it's over processed.

Because my hair is blonde I find it really difficult to get a decent shine on it and I often end up with really damaged ends to the point where you can really see how split they are if I don't use loads of product on it to smooth it down when straightening... and then I end up with a vicious circle of dry to greasy from too much product. 

This is where John Frieda Full Repair comes in.*

I've known about John Frieda for ages, I used to use the brunette range when I hard dark hair aged 15/16 so I was looking forward to trying the new full repair range; I was sent the shampoo and the deep conditioner. Full repair should help over-styled hair to look more radiant and healthy without the build up; sounds like the perfect remedy! I think it's important to review the items in their own right as well as together because lets face it, we haven't always got time to use a deep conditioning treatment because it does need a little while to work properly. 

Full Body Shampoo

I dont always like to use conditioner so this is great for me, my hair felt really clean and smelt great without any weighty feel of product build up which is pleasing! It also made brushing after washing a little easier too; usually when I just use shampoo without conditioner my hair goes into some sort of rats tail mess before I brush it but this shampoo seemed to sort that out a little bit, it was still a bit of a pain to brush but didn't take as much effort as it normally does. Definite thumbs up from me!

Deep Conditioner

I love a good deep conditioner, I don't know many people who don't... that feeling when you're just washing it out after 5 mins of relaxation and your hair running through your hands feels like silk! (went off on a bit of a mills & boon-esque tangent then, sorry!). This full repair one really isn't any exception, in fact I'd say that it was slightly better than some I have tried; usually deep conditioners are really thick and quite frankly difficult to rinse out of your hair properly without getting that 'ohhh no' moment when you feel you're hairs still slimey in one part when you've got to the drying stage. 

Full repair is quite thin in consistency and a little difficult to get a decent amount onto your hands but when you get it onto your hair it glides through effortlessly. I tend to only put it on the bottom 3/4 of my hair just because my roots don't need the intense moisture with them being oily already. I left it on for 5 minutes and rinsed it out really well and dried it... my hair felt beautiful, so manageable, shiny and smooth. Exactly what I expected from full repair, and it seemed to hold my straight style for longer than usual. 

Overall Verdict

As you can imagine using both products together gives you double the repair but given my hair type I won't be using the deep conditioner overly regularly not only because I don't think it'd be good for my hair but also because you really don't need to use it for any reason other than a hair treat when you really need it. The tub will last ages I reckon, so definite value for money there and the tube of shampoo is also pretty sizeable! 

Deep conditioner is £5.99 from Boots

Full Repair Shampoo is £5.69 from Boots

If you have issues with damaged hair or you find yourself tugging at your hair and snapping it by brushing, I definitely recommend trying something from this range, even if it's just the conditioner but I honestly think it's a fab range! If you want to find out more about this range and other ranges just head over to the John Frieda website.