I don't even know how it got to this. I co-wash regularly, deep condition on the weekends...It's like the longer my hair gets, the more tangled it becomes. My ends look great, people compliment me on my hair all the time. But all the hair close to my scalp matted is together, like it's locking on its own. I have to rip my strands apart to get them untangled- the only other alternative is to cut all my hair off. It does this regardless of if i've just conditioned or not. If i don't find a miracle detangler by this weekend, i'm fully texturizing...
If you texturize/texlax you will need to detangle before doing that or you'll have to cut your hair off anyway. So.... take a deep breath and get your mind set for a long detangling session.
Even if you have to detangle this first time in 1 in. sections and it takes 8 hours, it will be worth it.
Here is what I do, but remember you may need to alter this to meet YOUR hair's needs.
Before I get in the shower, I put conditioner and castor oil or evoo in my hair. I let it sit under a plastic cap for about 10 - 15 min, and then separate my hair into 4 - 6 sections of either braids, twists, or bantu knots. Then in the shower I COwash each section and finger comb. I put more conditioner on each section as I'm done, put my cap back on and complete my shower. After showering I rinse each section, put my deep cond on get out of the shower, and either leave the DC on while I do other things for an hour, or use my heating cap for 20 to 30 min. After this, back in the shower rinse and detangle each section with a wide toothed comb and keep the sections until I put in my leave-in moisture, and seal with oil.
As your hair gets longer, shampooing or COwashing in sections will save you a lot of grief. It seems like a lot, but on the days that you're not DC'ing it goes very quickly. HTH
ETA: I just took a look at your fotki, and you hair is very cute.