In an industry where lavish packaging is the norm, companies need to find ways to blend environmental commitment with the need to meet beauty consumers' demand for imaginative product presentation. All of these companies are meeting the challenge in several ways, from minimizing packaging to using recycled materials. By incorporating artwork, colors and materials that reinforce their plant-based philosophies, green companies are able to use packaging that minimizes environmental impacts while maintaining strong branding and broad appeal.

Pangea Organics has found some innovative solutions to the packaging issue. Their distinctive molded fiber boxes stand out on store shelves, important in a field where consumers prize creativity, yet are not only recyclable, but compostable. For the holiday season, they take this concept one step further by packaging their gift sets in "plantable" boxes, from which spruce trees can be grown.

Stepping back from the packaging angle, a company's overall operations is where truly green businesses distinguish themselves from the masses. The sustainable giant Hain Celestial Group, which owns organic brands JASON, Alba, and Avalon, powers its Personal Care headquarters entirely with solar energy, and uses only high post-consumer waste paper in office operations. The Boulder, Colorado-based pioneer Pangea Organics conducts environmental audits every year, with a goal of offsetting 100 percent of their carbon usage. And London-based Aveda is developing Cradle-to-Cradle-certified ingredients for its products and urging customers to recycle bottle caps into new packaging.

Focusing on green operations can have benefits that expand from headquarters to the community at large. Hain Celestial aims to foster sustainable farming and forestry with their purchasing practices. Pangea is investing in far-ranging sustainability research, dedicating a portion of their profits to building the Pangea Institute, which will develop sustainable living solutions ranging from green business practices to green housing. Each of these kinds of actions serve not only to further showcase a company's commitment to the environment, and help their products in both customer perception and environmental performance.

As more and more consumers are seeking skincare products that are sustainably produced, natural health and beauty brands are poised to become an ever larger part of the cosmetics industry. By focusing on renewable, plant-based ingredients, these brands are meeting a growing consumer demand for lower environmental impacts and high performance in their skincare products, and at the same time showing a sustainable model for growing a green business.