By: Mary Chris De Leon
The global beauty market has never been more crowded. New brands launch daily, driven by global supply chains, influencer partnerships, and the relentless pursuit of scale. But amid this noise, one company has built a loyal following not through mass production or trend-chasing, but through artistry and care. The Lauren Ashtyn Collection, founded in 2015 by Lauren Ashtyn Guest and her husband, Christopher Guest, has evolved into one of the country’s most trusted names in luxury hair toppers and wigs, demonstrating that in beauty, craftsmanship remains paramount.
From the very start, the couple took a different path. With a single goal in mind, they put their lives into a camper, sold their house, and hit the road, not just to make hairpieces, but to meet women face-to-face, understand their struggles, and design solutions that restored not only their look, but their sense of identity. Today, The Lauren Ashtyn Collection serves more than 30,000 women worldwide, hosts 35+ sold-out pop-up salon takeovers each year with 48 upcoming in 2026, immersive events where local salons are transformed into full experiences, complete with fittings, consultations, and client makeovers, and has become a leader in premium, hand-tied toppers made from 100% European Remy hair. Yet even with this growth, the heart of the business remains unchanged: every product is crafted with the care of a stylist who knows what it means to see a client recognize herself in the mirror again.
Quality That Lasts
The Lauren Ashtyn Collection’s toppers and wigs are handmade, customized, and tested with the eye of a stylist who understands both technique and emotion.
Growing up in her mother’s salon and eventually dealing with hair loss herself, Lauren Ashtyn had two perspectives: she was the customer and the professional. Unhappy with the products available on the market, she dedicated a year to creating toppers that would seem natural and could withstand daily wear.
The company’s pieces are built from 100% European Remy human hair, a choice that ensures durability and authenticity. Every design allows for stylist customization. Clients can cut, color, and style each topper just as they would their own hair. The Hand Painted Collection, introduced in recent years, elevated this standard even further. In it, stylists hand-color toppers for natural results, following what’s trending, strand by strand. This process, impossible to replicate through mass production, underscores why handmade items still carry weight in a global market.
Behind this focus on quality is not only Lauren Ashtyn’s stylistic eye but also Christopher’s operational discipline. Having experience in business processes and finance, he created the framework that enabled the brand to expand while maintaining its artisanal roots. Together, they demonstrated that handmade is not synonymous with little. It means intentional scaling with systems that protect, not dilute, quality.
Building Real Connections
For The Lauren Ashtyn Collection, craftsmanship extends beyond the hairpieces themselves. It shapes the entire customer experience. One of the brand’s most distinctive models is its nationwide pop-up salon tour, where the team travels to two cities each month, takes over salons, and serves more than 200 clients per event. These events consistently sell out, with attendees paying simply to secure their place.
What makes the tour remarkable is not just the logistics but the atmosphere. Clients arrive, often hesitant or uncertain, and leave with transformed confidence. Many describe the experience as more than a makeover. It is a moment of recognition. Lauren Ashtyn has recalled how women who enter with their heads down leave smiling, their posture changed, and their energy lifted.
That sense of connection continues online. The Lauren Ashtyn Collection runs a VIP community, accessible only to clients, where thousands of women share practical advice and personal encouragement. The group reflects the same spirit as the salons: it is not just about wearing hair but about being understood. Women post questions about daily life with toppers, even asking how they hold up on roller coasters, and others respond with firsthand experience. In an industry often focused on glossy marketing, this peer-to-peer support feels rare and deeply human.
Even the company’s digital operations reflect this balance of craft and community. The Lauren Ashtyn Collection offers free online consultations, where stylists review photos submitted in natural light and recommend exact matches. If a client’s shade falls outside the brand’s standard colors, stylists hand-paint a custom piece. These digital tools don’t replace craftsmanship; they expand its reach, ensuring that clients far from South Carolina still feel the care of a stylist’s hand.
Changing the System
The Guests have also connected their commitment to quality with advocacy. For too long, insurance companies have labeled wigs and toppers as “cosmetic,” leaving women with medical-related hair loss to cover costs out of pocket. The Lauren Ashtyn Collection challenges this view. To clients facing alopecia, chemotherapy, or postpartum loss, hair replacement is not a luxury; it is dignity.
The company has already supported many women in securing partial reimbursement, ranging from 20% to 80% of their costs. With the help of internal insurance expertise, The Lauren Ashtyn Collection prepares medical invoices coded as hair prostheses, increasing the likelihood of coverage. Lauren Ashtyn has spoken openly about how critical this is: women battling cancer often describe hair loss as harder to face than the diagnosis itself, because it changes how they see themselves and how the world sees them.
With an eye toward the future, The Lauren Ashtyn Collection is pushing for more comprehensive reform and is pursuing legislation that would standardize insurance coverage for medical hair loss. This initiative mirrors the brand’s underlying concept, which holds that craftsmanship encompasses both how systems handle those in need and how items are made. Just as every hand-tied strand represents care, every policy fight represents the belief that women deserve solutions that see them fully.
In a global beauty market dominated by speed and volume, The Lauren Ashtyn Collection is proof that craftsmanship is not outdated; it is essential. Handmade products carry weight because they hold the detail, precision, and care that mass production cannot replicate. Lauren Ashtyn Guest brings the perspective of a stylist and a survivor of hair loss, shaping products with authenticity and empathy. Christopher Guest ensures that this artisanal model can grow without compromise, building systems that allow craft to scale. Together, they have built more than just a company; they have built a movement that combines artistry, community, and advocacy.
Handmade may take longer. It may require more patience. But when a woman walks out of a Lauren Ashtyn salon event smiling at her reflection, finds connection in the VIP community, or secures insurance coverage for the first time, the impact is undeniable: this work restores dignity as much as it restores hair.
Discover more about the artistry, advocacy, and community shaping the future of hair toppers and wigs. Visit The Lauren Ashtyn Collection to explore their handcrafted pieces and learn how craftsmanship is redefining modern beauty.
