When actor, author and activist Hill Harper was diagnosed with thyroid cancer over seven years ago, the urge to be productive took over. He'd lost his father to the same type of cancer in 2000, which fueled his desire to proactively seek ways to increase his rate of survival. His quest for knowledge took him to all the way to President Obama's panel on cancer, where, according to Chicago Now's Nekia Nichelle, he learned that "everything we put on our skin gets absorbed into our bodies like we're eating it, and our liver, kidneys, they have to deal with it."

Thinking about the products he used, Harper realized, "all of these things are damaging to your liver and your whole endocrine system."

Because he couldn't find a line of products that lacked the sort of chemicals and potential carcinogens he now knew to avoid at an affordable price, Harper created a skincare line of his own.

JUA Essentials and N2L for Men are Harper's contribution to the hair and skin beauty industry. Right now, they're only available through a subscription service. Each line contains essential oils like Baobab (Harper's personal fave) and are infused with multivitamins that are meant to rejuvenate and refresh skin and hair cells. Harper says a big motivation in creating this line was to create "premium, all-natural products at an affordable price." Subscription deals, packed with an array of products, are priced anywhere from $38-$65.

Other than stepping into a new avenue in his career, Harper hopes that his products will help people to understand how healthfully beneficial placing an emphasis on skin can be.

Check out his line here.