Between leave-in conditioners, hair treatment masks and hot oil treatments, it’s easy to get confused by all the conditioner options that are available. While shampoo cleans and lifts dirt and oil from the hair shaft, conditioner realigns the cuticle and leaves your hair smooth, hydrated and detangled. To determine which conditioner formulation is best for you, first determine your hair type.

In-shower Conditioner
Best for: All hair types
Benefits: This is the hydrating post-cleansing cream rinse that’s designed for daily use. In-shower conditioners range from volumizing, to lightly hydrating, to de-frizzing formulas. Choose one based on your hair type and don’t fall for the adage that you must use one that corresponds with your shampoo. Any conditioner that is designed for your hair type will work well with your shampoo, whether it comes in a set or not. Do you color your hair? It’s important to invest in color-safe shampoo and conditioner. A hydrator that is designed for gals who color will rebalance and restore their hair’s natural moisture level, in addition to extending the life of the color.

Deep-conditioning Masks
Best for: Chemically treated or coarse and damaged hair
Benefits: Masks (or masques) are excellent for repairing heat-damaged or chemically treated locks. Use a mask once or twice a week to infuse hair with protein and help rehabilitate split ends. Try to leave these on as long as possible in the shower (more than 10 minutes), or under a plastic cap outside of the shower for a deep treatment for up to 30 minutes. Masks benefit all hair types, but ladies with fine, thin hair may want to limit use to only once a week, or every other week.

Hot Oil Treatment
Best for: Medium-to-thick damaged hair
Benefits: Hot oil treatments can change the look of severely damaged hair quickly, and are particularly good if you’re due for a haircut, but don’t have time to get to the salon. They’re best for medium-to-thick damaged hair. They are typically inexpensive and come in plastic tubes, which you heat by immersing in hot water, open and apply to your mane. Like a deep-conditioning mask, leaving it on longer will yield smoother, hydrated and more lustrous locks.

Leave-in Conditioners
Best for: Fine, curly and/or colored hair
Benefits: These are the lightest conditioners. When used alone, they’re best for fine, thin hair. Skip the in-shower standard conditioner and opt for this humectant option to infuse moisture -- without the extra weight. Leave-in conditioners come in spray-on, cream and foam versions. Curly haired girls may want to use leave-in conditioner in addition to a regular wash-out one for extra de-frizzing capabilities. Hair-color chameleons should invest in a spray-on, leave-in protective conditioner with UV filters to protect hair hues from the sun’s rays, which can fade color.

As much as we all love our blow-dryers, straightening irons and curling irons, excessive heat when hairstyling can weaken your hair structure and affect its health. The heat created by styling tools can degrade hair’s proteins, so it is important to minimize hair’s exposure to heat.

Using a heat-protective spray before hairstyling, holding the blow-dyer several inches away from hair and quickly passing straightening irons through hair so that the heat is not concentrated in one area are all excellent preventative measures against heat damage.

Excessive friction from manual hairstyling, like overly-zealous brushing, backcombing or teasing can also weaken one’s hair structure and affect hair health. To protect healthy hair from friction-related hairstyling damage, use conditioner every time you shampoo (be sure to choose the conditioner that is right for your hair structure and the look you want to achieve), detangle wet hair with a wide-toothed comb, and try root-lifting products to create lift and volume rather than backcombing.

Latinas are known for dramatic beauty. Whether you prefer an effortless glow or brick-red and Hollywood-ready lips, sporting either one of these looks is sure to have you turning heads.

Red Carpet

1. To achieve a stunning red-carpet presence, keep your face flawless by applying full-coverage foundation that won’t gather in your fine lines or wrinkles.

2. For maximum drama, cleanse and prime lashes with a solution, apply black liquid eyeliner and then glue on individual lash extensions.

3. Apply a shimmery light-gray eye shadow directly underneath your eyebrows, and then blend a darker color on the bottom for a smoky look.

4. Show off your lips with a moisturizing matte-finish lipstick in a stunning red color.

Telenovela Hair

A telenovela-high ponytail will keep those loose strands away from your face at work and can easily transition to a fun night on the town. How to do it:

1. Bend forward and flip your hair over. Work a small dab of hair cream that straightens and smoothens out frizz, and then brush it out.

2. Next, gather hair in your hands as high as you can, securing with a tight elastic band. Voila!

3. Don’t forget, your face is on display! For a simple and beautiful glow, apply an eye cream with a touch of concealer, and brush a light bronzer on your cheeks.

Natural Shine

For a standout spring look, play with color. 

1. Start by dusting a rose-colored blush at the center of your cheeks with a makeup brush.

2. Open up your eyes with a light layer of mascara. If your lashes are straight, try a curling brush; if they’re thin, use a volumizing brush that maximizes each lash individually.

3. Glide on a glittery pink gloss just before you leave. Don’t forget to blow yourself a kiss on the way out the door!

Photo: Getty Images

There are a number of hair growth myths we have heard across the years. One myth is that cutting hair will it help grow faster or thicker. This hair growth myth may have something to do with the fact that hair, when it is cut and has a good shape, tends to look healthier than hair that has no shape and/or a lot of split ends. You can plump up your hair by using volume-enhancing styling products, and a good cut can also help you “fake” volume -- layered hair works well to achieve this. But cutting hair will not make it grow faster or thicker, as hair has a normal, biologically determined growth rate and overall texture, making this a hair growth myth.

As with other myths of hair growth, there are questions about what products can really grow hair. On average, hair growth is about a quarter of an inch to half an inch every month. While science has made huge technological advances that do help promote hair growth, myths of hair growth and old wives’ methods such as scalp massage, hanging upside down, rubbing magic elixirs into your scalp and getting it cut when the moon is waxing have not been scientifically proven to grow hair faster.