THIS Is Why The Kardashians Are All Wearing Braids

Some people were born to cook, others were born to write, and Justine Marjan was born to braid. The hairstylist, who is also the editorial director of Mane Addicts and a key member of Jen Atkin's hair army, has kept herself quite busy this year zipping all over the world doing hair for just about every single A-list celebrity from Lily Aldridge to the Kardashians. She has also played an integral role in the increasing popularity of woven hairstyles.

Marjan is what we would call a braid prodigy. Braiding came to her naturally. When asked about how she masters such intricate plaits, Marjan laughs. "People [always ask me] how I learned to do braids," she says. "No one taught me, I just figured it out. I can look [at a braid] and know it goes like this or that."

It all started when she was about 12 years old, on the beaches of her hometown in Southern California. "I grew up in a beach town and I used to go to the beach and braid people's hair for like $20," she says.

Six years later, after graduating from an art academy in high school and missing her last chance to take the SATs, Marjan enrolled in beauty school and immediately fell in love with hairstyling. That's when celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin came into the picture. "Jen had the idea for Mane Addicts and was looking for hairstylists who could do basic graphic-design stuff," says Marjan. From that point on, Marjan became Atkin's right-hand woman, writing, editing, and pitching content for the hair-focused site while booking hairstyling gigs on the side.

But it wasn't until this past year that things started really looking up for Marjan. She traveled all around the world assisting and reporting on Fashion Weeks and helped her mentor, Atkin, launch her highly anticipated hair-care line. Oh, and did we mention she was indoctrinated into the Kardashians' glam squad? She just got back from a stint in Iceland with the family.

Now you can see Marjan's work just about everywhere, from Instagram and YouTube to the heads of stars like Kelly Rowland and Karrueche Tran. We caught up with the L.A.-based hair guru and asked her to give us the lowdown on her favorite styles. Check 'em out, ahead.