regina07, I agree with what the previous posters said about silica. Have not tried biotin as a supplement on its own to form an opinion. I have been using MSM for over a year and although I love MSM for the internal health benefits plus softening of new growth, however, it had no impact in lessening the shedding and breakage. I recently went through a period of intense shedding and subsequent breakage brought on by the use of Wen. I tried a bunch of things, henna, cassia, black tea rinses, garlic conditioners and although I saw some reduced shedding, none of these stopped the shedding completely until I incorporated silica in my diet by drinking bamboo leaf tea. As stated above by
lindsaywhat, bamboo has high levels of silica. I started drinking bamboo leaf tea approx 30 days ago and the result was immediate. Over time, I noticed that my hair felt stronger, less fragile and prone to breakage and the shedding has completely stopped. My wash day has seen significant decrease in breakage when detangling. My nails also grew like weeds. Best of all the bamboo leaf tea taste so nice and mild that I can drink cup a day which is enjoyable to me. I purchased the bamboo leaf tea from a blogger named Nadege over at relaxed hair health. Here is the link if you're interested...
http://relaxedhairhealth.blogspot.ca/p/bamboo-leaf-tea.html. If you visit the site, you'll find out more about the benefits of incorporating silica in your diet to improve hair health. I truly love the stuff and will always have as part of my diet. HHG.