Ah separation, how I took thee for granted when I first heard of you. Everything I read about natural dreadlocks said Separate, make sure you're separating those dreads that are growing together! Make sure they don't grow together at the roots! Pull them apart! So sure I kept separating them, pulling them apart all blissful and ignorant. Not until over 3 months in did I realize OH you don't just pull them apart, GO THROUGH THOSE THINGS AT THE ROOT HAIR. BY. HAIR. Make sure that they're separated at THE ROOT and not just the dread itself or you will end up with a giant hairball with some dreads sticking out of it (sounds cute right). Once I realized how vital this is, it took over an hour (s'okay it was good music time) to go through those suckers hair by hair and even a 15 minute break because it became so overwhelming to separate the last three (see image) and I was convinced that the back right side of my head was forever destined to have just one giant dread. Honestly now that I know this it's all good and my dreads are progressing better than ever, but WOW was it a fun time really separating them for the first time. It is easier after they've been washed, then the single hairs that you're separating have more elasticity and won't break.