Everything pushes us to find the contact with the marine element again, source of life of our planet. Because we all are, in the origin, marine beings"

The sea water contains all the indispensable oligoelements to our life and well-being, and it contributes to eliminate the stress of the modern world.

In this mean without equal, we can find the algae, these plants concentrate 50.000 times the properties of the marine world, and they favour the regulation and the balance of our organism.

If we study the algae, and we observe theirs natural properties, we can extract, using the best laboratory techniques, theirs active elements, and we can verify that a similarity exists between the algae and the epidermis, between its way of life and ours.

The nature has endowed the algae with formidable natural means of defense, of protection and regeneration against the polluting agents, the stress or any other type of aggression.

Their properties, applied to the cosmetic, allow to palliate the group of aesthetic disorders: dehydrated skins, attacked by the contamination, epidermis extremely sensitive, hiper reactivity, everything done with an exceptional cutaneous tolerance, contrarily to the synthetic or traditional cosmetic, source of numerous rejections and reactions.

ALL THE COLOURS

Few people can imagine when they stroll at the beach, skirting the line of the last high tide, where there are accumulated shell remains and algae left there by the waves, as it is described in the Route of the Thalassoterapia by the Basque?French coast, in the Rutas Saludables ( Routes of Health ), the different species of algae that are stepping, and they would be surprised when knowing the wide scope of applications of these algae: agricultural, industrial, nutritious, therapeutic, cosmetic and even ornamental as if they were dry flowers.

According to Martha Bellocq author of diverse studies regarding therapies with algae, there are of all the colours. "The colour of the algae is one of the first keys to determine the identification of the different species, she remarks. There are three big groups of macro-algae: Chlorophyta-green algae ? Phaeophyta- brown algae - and Rhodophyta- red algae.

In Cosmetic the brown algae are especially used and from these algae are obtained the alginatos and they have an important iodine content. They play an important roll in products like masks, creams, shampoos and lotions.

The Fucus vesiculosus of greenish brown color possesses some vesicles that act as floats and its properties are used in the treatment of the obesity in the natural cosmetic.

The Laminaria digitata that reaches the 3 and 4 meters heigh, forms true "marine forests" and live in the cold waters of the French Bretagne. With a high level in vitamins TO B C D AND F K, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and other important elements that alleviates the stress, their alginatos are used in tonic, creams and cleaning and exfoliative lotions.
From red algae are obtained mainly the carroten and the agar.

The Chondrus crispus (moss of Ireland ) and mastocarpus stellatus are picked up jointly for the carragen production used as thicker in the pharmaceutical and alimentary industry. These algae after being whased and whitened by the sun become suitable to use in infusion for the treatment of ulcers, stomach dysfunctions and colds.

Lately a French engineer, Jean Yves Moigne has investigated the properties of the alga red Asparagopsis armata, originate of New Zealand, introduced accidentally around 1925 in the European coasts. In his investigations Moigne verified that their properties are very effective in the acne treatment. At the moment several French laboratories and foreigners are starting the elaboration of the suitable product.

By Beatriz González Rasilla. Graduate in Clinical and Industrial Psychology. Specialist in relaxation methods and Yoga.