Meet the Founder and the Brand

Our founder Alonya Montague is 18 years old and is a sophomore at Thee Howard University, the home of the Mecca, studying Business and Hospitality Management. She graduated high school ranked number 8 in her class and was a student at The Governor's School of Southside Virginia Community College. Alonya cheered, played tennis, and participated in many clubs in high school, majority of which she held leadership roles. 

Formulating products is not new to Alonya. At the age of 7, her and her aunt used to mix up lip balm and other DIY concoctions in her grandmother's kitchen. She's been making her own natural hair butters and masks for years. Creating natural products is truly something she loves to do. Alonya handcrafts every recipe and manually fills every jar, bottle, or tube. She spent hours researching ingredients and their benefits to create the perfect products she spent years dreaming about. 

The Melanin Realm was once called Beauty by Ahlawnyah; however, Alonya changed the name to reflect a different view. She wanted to make products that helped women and men of color embrace the skin that they're in. The Melanin Realm stands for melanated Kings and Queens - not just African American people, but Caucasian and people of other decent as well. We all have some amount of melanin in us, some more than others. Anyone can benefit from our products. The Melanin Realm is a black, woman-owned brand that crafts products tailored to YOUR needs.