Melissa Ann Cosmetics
More Than Just A Pretty Face
We are a Skin Care and Cosmetic Company that serves a cause, Melissa Ann Cosmetics is fuel for a greater good. A large portion of our profits will be donated to foundations that aid in research and assistance for those who deal with the day to day challenges of Rett Syndrome. Rett syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects girls almost exclusively. It is characterized by normal early growth and development followed by a slowing of development, loss of purposeful use of the hands, distinctive hand movements, slowed brain and head growth, problems with walking, seizures, and intellectual disability.
The course of Rett syndrome, including the age of onset and the severity of symptoms, varies from child to child. Before the symptoms begin, however, the child generally appears to grow and develop normally, although there are often subtle abnormalities even in early infancy, such as loss of muscle tone (hypotonia), difficulty feeding, and jerkiness in limb movements. Then, gradually, mental and physical symptoms appear. As the syndrome progresses, the child loses purposeful use of her hands and the ability to speak. Other early symptoms may include problems crawling or walking and diminished eye contact. The loss of functional use of the hands is followed by compulsive hand movements such as wringing and washing. The onset of this period of regression is sometimes sudden.
Apraxia — the inability to perform motor functions — is perhaps the most severely disabling feature of Rett syndrome, interfering with every body movement, including eye gaze and speech. Children with Rett syndrome often exhibit autistic-like behaviors in the early stages. Other symptoms may include walking on the toes, sleep problems, a wide-based gait, teeth grinding and difficulty chewing, slowed growth, seizures, cognitive disabilities, and breathing difficulties while awake such as hyperventilation, apnea (breath holding), and air swallowing.
Now that you know a little bit about Rett Syndrome, let us talk about our products. We make our skin care and cosmetics products by hand in small batches. We try to get back to basics with our natural ingredients and are very proud of our work. We are excited that we can use these products to not only make your skin look and feel better, but also to make someone inflicted with Rett Syndrome smile more, feel little more comfortable, and possibly take a small load off a family that is struggling with this disorder.
Now, I know you are asking yourself, “How can I Help?” Buy our products, tell a friend, buy our products, share our pages, get the word out!! This is such a rare disorder that doesn't get much attention and we want to bring it up and out, so that we can help those afflicted and their families. This company was named after a beautiful 10 year old girl (Melissa Ann Heckert) that was inflicted with Retts Syndrome, she passed away in 1991, lets keep her memory alive and help those like her.
Thank you.