Were you trying to separate them or comb all of that bit out? Do you think you improved it at all? If so then several shorter sessions over a period of time might start to get you somewhere.
The other thought I had was if you had a friend to help as they'd be able to see the situation better.
I hope you can sort it out somehow - it seems such a shame to have to cut it 
Are you backcombing or tnr?I'd guess you've been pulling them too tight at the roots and it would be better to put the rest in more loosely. The ones you've already done should loosen up over time, with washing and your hair will grow so don't worry that you'll always have the lines showing!
I'd agree wrapping would be best. For greater coverage how about wrapping or braiding with ribbons? It would be quick to put in and you could take them out to wash and dry your hair and use a different colour next time.
I'm not sure about dyeing hair with food colours - it's pretty permanent when you dye wool with them but you don't wash wool so often or with such strong soaps!
Don't dismiss your huge knot - the first step of my natural dreading was a huge knot at the back! I separated it into what looked like natural places to divide it up and soon those sections with chunks of knot still on the ends were starting to look a little bit like dreads. They've a very long way to go yet (I'm at 5.5 weeks without brushing) but that huge knot in the back has given me a great start lol
Washing with just bicarb will dry your hair out, you need to use the apple cider vinegar rinse afterwards to get your hair back in balance. I wash with bicarb and acv three times a week with no problems but I think I use a weaker solution of both the bicarb and acv than you would use for a full deep clean. The deep clean would be what you've seen advised as an occasional thing. If your water is hard you might need to dissolve the bicarb in hot water and allow to cool before using it.
I don't know anything about fancy shampoos but they sound as if they'd smell nice lol
Hope someone who can comment on the ingredients will be along soon 
Bad luck getting caught by customs
I spotted unbranded liquid castile soap here and I just checked and it doesn't have that ingredient
http://www.summernaturals.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=68&products_id=708
I haven't actually tried it yet though. I was going to order some when I was looking at their bicarb but I found bicarb cheaper on ebay! Could try ebay for UK stockists of other products too I suppose.
And the opposite question would be why let it grow if it makes you feel uncomfortable?
Either way it's your body not his so it's your choice
taye said:
My question to you dear Alicia is why does it make you feel nasty?
Look for t-shirt head wrap videos. I've been doing something a bit like this one
to keep my hair well out of the way of paint and power tools.
My hair started to make huge clumps at the bottom even before it sectioned much so I separated a lot at first. It wasn't so much wasting the knots that bothered me as that I could hear my hair breaking no matter how gently I tried to pull them apart. After taking advice I used beads to keep the sections apart which either worked like a charm or gave my hair a breathing space while it decided it didn't want to be one big ball of tangles at the bottom. I don't know which it is but the problem seems to have reduced drastically and I hardly ever have to separate the ends any more.
Yes, I think you do need to keep separating them. Pull them very gently with a wiggling motion, preferably when your hair is wet. Hopefully it's just a phase and your hair will work out where it's meant to be soon.
