Jade or anyone with jojoba oil and silica knowledge.

Hi, Holly!Glad to see your recent posts and hope you had a good time in the States visiting with family and friends!> First off, I've been taking silica supplements for a> couple weeks now. It's in capsule form and I bought it> from GNC when I was in the States. It's called> "NOURISH Hair" and the silica is derived> from the horsetail herb. 10 mg. to be precise and also> 1 mg. of boron. That's all the minerals it contains.> Now, I'm also taking a multivitamin/mineral supplement> (and have been for a couple of years now) also from> GNC called "Kal Hair Force" and that also> contains silica but in "silicon dioxide"> form (sand) and I've read where that isn't helpful.> Can you first tell me if I'm taking too much> silica (is 10 mgs. too much to take EVERYDAY?) and> would the silica in the Multivitamin (Silicon Dioxide)> be hindering to the effects of the better silica that> I've just started taking(horsetail herb capsule-10> mgs. each). Oh, the amount of silicon dioxide silica> in the multivitamin is 50 mgs. I take this> multivitamin everyday, too.First, about the silica. I am familiar with the products you have mentioned which you got from GNC. It seems like you are taking 3 products: The Nourish Hair, Kal Hair Force and a general multivitamin, the name of which you do not mention.A note on the silica generally. Vegetal silica is turned into the mineral silicon by your body. Vegetal silica is found in the herb horsetail, sea alga, vegetables and fruits, brown rice, etc. The key to look for is the actual mineral conversion. The Nourish Hair, just like another product which GNC offers without the boron, does the work for you. For example, the general GNC silica product without the boron, which I have in front of me, says that 1 tablet provides 275 mg of horsetail rush herb which is the equivalent of 11mg of elemental silicon.Silicon Dioxide. You are right here, Holly. You can find silicon dioxide in many supplement tablets. Often, manufacturers use it to maintain the integrity of the tablet. Nutritional value is neglibile at best. However, I do not think this would impede the effect of the horsetail-derived silica. Are you sure that Kal's Hair Force has silicon dioxide and not silica? I looked at an old copy I had of that formulation and it says, "Silica" 20mg, but no source is mentioned. I copied it from the Vitamin Shoppe back in Feb. 99. Your multivitamin has 50mg silicon dioxide? That's odd because most of the multivitamin formulations use horsetail for silica and it's usually not that much.Daily Intake Amount of Silica..Elemental Silicon. From what I have read, silicon is not an essential mineral like say calcium. It is estimated that the average person gets about 200mg daily through diet. Recommendations for intake seem to range anywhere from 10-50mg, elementally speaking. Normally, I take 25mg (elemental)via Solgar's Oceanic Silica. Plus, I get 5mg(elemental) from horsetail via Solgar's Earth Source, my multivitamin/mineral formulation. So, that's a daily intake of 30mg via supplements.> The next question is about Jojoba oil. I just would> like to know, can this oil be irritating to the eyes-I> mean in a major way? Does it have a a strong scent or> in any way be burning to the eyes? I've never used it> before, but am thinking of trying some. If anyone has> gotten it into their eyes, can you tell me if it stung> very hard, or not? I just have to be careful since I> don't know the language around here (France) too well.> I would need to tell a doctor quickly what happenned> and I don't know if I could. So, better safe than> sorry.If you happen to get jojoba oil in your eyes, it should not harm them. I've done this while putting the oil in my hair. My eyes started to itch and I rubbed them. Mine just felt irritated a bit and started to water a little. I flushed them with water and they were fine.When buying jojoba oil, it should be golden in color (hence the nickname, "liquid gold"), and virtually odorless. After you have used it, you might detect a hint of odor. I can't describe it:) It is virtually rancid-free and from experience, it just gets better with time, like a fine wine. When using it, start with a little and work up:)Hope this helps....All the Best,Jade21P.S. You would laugh if you could see me sporting my Panama hat:)

Holly,I just purchased some Jojoba oil from the Body Shop and from what I have observed, it seems of high quality. Their products are usually very good anyway. I have been using it (dry) on my ends. I leave it on overnight and shampoo it out the next a.m. Hope this helps!Jennifer

Hi, Holly!I agree completely with JM. I really like the Body Shop's squeeze bottles for the oils, too.Have a great weekend!All the Best,Jade21> Thanks for posting. I'm going to be getting some> probably this weekend. Can't wait!> Thanks again,> Holly