I Have Lupus: This Is What Living My Best Life Looks Like

"Before my diagnosis, I thought I was healthy!" Jackson said enthusiastically at the Indie Beauty Expo in New York City, where they were voted "Most Notable Newcomer" and "Cleanest and Greenest." The brand, a happy by-product of Jackon's lupus diagnosis, was exhibiting for the second time.

She also endured debilitating migraines about once a month—headaches, dizziness, and sensitivity to light, which are classic migraine characteristics, are all symptoms of lupus. She was still eating processed food, including ample sugar and alcohol, and working a high-stress career in entertainment in Atlanta.

At first, she stayed home and threw herself into work—which she now realizes probably exacerbated the issue. A good friend urged her to see a holistic doctor who was well-versed in traditional Chinese medicine. Jackson obliged to an herbal regimen and agreed to travel to L.A. for an in-person visit with a rheumatologist in L.A. and her holistic doctor's husband.

After paying close attention to her diet and supplements, she realized that her skin care needed a green overhaul too. "Before this, I never ever treated my skin like an organ," she said. She experienced severe itching, burning, and pain from the stretching and tightness of the skin, but she wanted a cleaner skincare option. Jackson, a self-proclaimed product junkie, started doing diligence on healing, potent, and natural ingredients and "just wasn't satisfied with what I was finding."

Seeking to heal her stretch marks, rashes, and all-around irritated skin, she started experimenting with formulas in her kitchen. Eventually, she landed on her current best-seller, the heal whipped skin souffle, a decadent combination of shea, avocado, jojoba, and almond oils, as well as essential oils for scent, in her own kitchen. In addition to the skin souffle, beneath your mask includes a hair and skin oil, body oil, and a body scrub.

She "would give it as gifts to friends, co-workers, and clients at the time," and people kept demanding more, she said. She never intended to start a natural skincare company, but her true purpose began to come through. When her former employer was acquired in 2014, she was at a crossroads of continuing in the entertainment field or pursuing her passion. She took this as a sign to solely focus on herself and her health for 6 months. "Healing is a process: First it's physical, before the mental and spiritual elements come into play," she said.

To this day, she is free from lupus symptoms and hasn't had a flare up since 2012. She swears by a clean diet first and foremost. She starts the day off with an anti-inflammatory tonic, burdock root, turmeric root, a splash of apple cider vinegar, oil of oregano, lemon, and cayenne pepper. "I can really feel the difference when I don't have it," Jackson said, citing benefits in her skin as well as her digestion.

Breakfast is usually a smoothie made with pea protein, veggies, and greens. During the day, she loves eating food from the Korean food market and often drinks from a fresh coconut every day, a habit she picked up while getting chemo in L.A.—the coconut water helped with nausea. She cooks vegan dinners at home, but when she goes out she'll indulge in high-quality fish.

She loves doing yoga and Pilates to keep stress at bay and to feel strong. And of course, she uses her own line of natural products to keep her hair, skin, and her spirit, feeling good. "I am grateful for the fact that I can take my own pain and help others heal," she said.