There's no reason for environmentalism to be more than skin deep. Avoid the frump fest stereotype of militant environmentalists and go green for beauty with these posh Houston hideaways:

Tucked away in a zened-out home in Chelsea, Throwing Copper Organic Body Hueing offers an alternative to the plastic touch and feel of ordinary tanning salons. "It's more artistic than what anybody else does in terms of airbrushing," explains co-owner and hueing artist Samantha Buchanan Curry . "Each person is a totally different canvas."

Using an organic beet-based spray solution, the Throwing Copper service gives customers a healthy glow rather than an orange aura. Not only is it non-toxic, but the airbrush product contains skin-loving solutions like aloe vera and anti-aging antioxidants white tea and grape seed extract.

Adams and her fellow hueing artist Stephani Adams credit CoCo Chanel for popularizing tanning as a way to empower women, encouraging them to reveal healthy skin and enjoy the outdoors. Today, customers can sidestep the UV-ray danger of time consuming outdoor tanning and the toxic lights of tanning beds in favor of Throwing Copper.

The cozy quarters have already serviced over 1,000 word-of-mouth clients. The righteous hueing artists also offer at-home parties, so clients can go green as a team.

Mark Horn's signature salon, Solution for Hair was conceived with careful attention to the green movement. The hair atelier was located for years in a 900-square-foot neighborhood bungalow — quaint, but impossibly energy inefficient. Thanks to thoughtful planning, the new 3,000-square-foot location amazingly generates a smaller energy bill than the previous site.

Receiving a top-notch styling in the new location feels like sitting on a cloud, thanks to the architecture's soaring ceilings and monumental windows — a design element that allows the salon to largely forgo artificial lighting. Horn, a proud Prius driver, left the concrete floor bare, as opposed to most salons that employ petroleum-derived or tree-killing surfaces.

These elements prove that green design can also be both cost-effective and chic. A large percentage of the top notch products used at Solution for Hair are plant-derived and come from sustainable cosmetic companies like Davines, Kevin Murphy and Number Four.

See Solution's green agenda in action on May 19's customer appreciation event, which will feature local food trucks and of course, lots of recycling opportunities. And that's not all the salon is doing to partner with the community in environmental initiatives. Horn has organized a diaper drive for Casa de Esperanza (the children's shelter), and is requesting that participants donate cloth diapers.

"I'm not green-obsessed," he admits, "but for me, being green just comes naturally."