A study conducted by ConsumerLab.com showed that one can't assume just any vitamin is safe because there is no uniform manufacturing rules for supplements. And multi may not contain what the bottle claims. Some may be contaminated with something from the manufaturing plant and also contain tainted ingredients.

The best thing to do is to avoid vitamins singled out by ConsumerLab.com and stick with names like Centrum Silver and One-A Day Women's, for this were found to be free of impurities and accurately labeled.
Check also vitamin bottles for the United State Pharmacopoeia (USP), NSF international or ConsumerLab.com seals.
USP and NSF are nonprofit groups and they are reliable too for they verify whether companies offer contamination-free products and use proper and good manufacturing practices. Not all brand has the seals and some don't want to submit to testing but those who do are reliable like the Kirkland and Nature Made who has the seals.

To be able to find the right multivitamin for you:
1. If you are female, in your child bearing years, make sure your multi has 400 micrograms of folic acid for this will help make and maintain new cells. For a pregnant woman she should take 600 mcg of folic acid to prevent neural tube defects like spina bifida.
2. A woman who is premenopausal should take vitamins with iron to replace the iron lost during menstruation. For women who are already in menopause they can do without taking it because too much iron can raise the risk of heart disease.
3. If a doctor has prescribed medicines for you, consult him about the risky interactions of multivitamins to the medicines you are taking.
4. If you have a "queasy" feeling after taking a certain brand try another multivitamin and be sure to take your vitamins with meals for easy absorption.
5. Take the recommended amount set by the government's Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). If you are taking it higher it is still OK as long as it does not exceed the tolerable upper limit (TUL). You will find the DRIs and Uls at the Health.com/links.
Majority of the vitamins are listed in milligrams (mg) or micrograms (mcg). While labes may use IUs (international units) for vitamins A, D, and E.

yes take the liquid multivitamin it is more effective than the pills. These vitamins definitely gives you a boost.

Organic Life Vitamins

A friend told me about the Dr Max Powers MultiVitamin several years ago, and said I had to try it. I was very skeptical. I did, and since then have felt better than I did before taking it. With the off the shelf drug store stuff, that I had been taking, I was always felling run down, and getting sick. My wife started taking the Dr Max Powers MultiVitamin also, and has quit taking the women's nutritional products from other companies. I do not know what Dr. Max does that they do not, but truly does seem to be a better product.

I'm not a health professional, so take my advice with a grain of salt and contact your doctor.

The commonly available multivitamins (One-A-Day, Centrum, etc) are very similar in content. Women's varieties often include more calcium to counteract osteoporosis. So, a general over the counter multi-vitamin will satisfy the majority of your vitamin needs.