Once your tangles are brushed out and your smoothing cream applied, next, you'll want to add a slight bend to the hair with a curling iron to lend a little texture. "When your hair has some wave or curl to it, the hair in the sections of the braid will bend into your braid, and it will prevent your hair from sticking out of the braid," Strebe said.
(This tip, of course, applies only to people with straighter hair types; anyone with curls can skip this step.) Now, you're ready to begin braiding.
Image Source: Courtesy of Jenny Strebe