Horsetail Equisetum arvense is an ancient plant and has been used for medicinal purposes by Native Americans. Horsetail is exceptional for hair care and building hair strength. Horsetail grows in moist areas and near water.

A nature area I used to walk daily, the horsetail would sprout up every spring and was abundant growing along the creek. Every time I passed, I marveled at how similar the plant looks to hair. The way a strand of hair looks under the microscope looks like the stem of the horsetail plant. And the branches off the stem look like hair stands. As an herbalist, I’ve always been fascinated with the Doctrine of Signatures and I look to the plant and what part of the body it resembles.

Horsetail is rich in minerals and silica. Silica deposits were found in all of the horsetail plant from the rhizome to the stem, leaf and spores. Silicon is an abundant trace mineral in the body. Silicon builds strength in nails, skin and hair. The higher content of silicon content in the hair, it is said to be shinier and with a lower rate of hair loss. The main sources of silicon in our diet comes from plants; cereals, fruits and vegetable-derived foods.

I use dried horsetail in synergy herbal formulations and add to hair care formulations can help to build and strengthen the hair.

References

1. Chinnoi Law, Christopher Exley. New insight into silica deposition in horsetail. 2011 Jul 29;11:112. PMID: 21801378 PMCID: PMC3160890 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2229-11-112 Free PMC article
   
2. Lidiane Advincula de Araújo, Flavia Addor, and Patrícia Maria Berardo Gonçalves Maia Campos. Use of silicon for skin and hair care: an approach of chemical forms available and efficacy. An Bras Dermatol. 2016 May-Jun; 91(3): 331–335. doi: 10.1590/abd1806-4841.20163986
   
3. Equisetum arvense. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equisetum_arvense