For those of you that have some interest in purchasing a mask from a non-US/Canada/Europe vendor, I decided to try out UT Disguise (
https://www.utdisguisemastermask.com/). I have previously purchased several silicone torsos from Smitizen with good results (mask, not so good), and a latex mask from ForFun in Thailand, so I wanted to try out this vendor as well.
I was not quite ready to order a truly realistic mask from them, so I decided on the Shadow Drone mask. This mask has realistic features, short neck and no bib, and a shiny, solid black color. Price was $211.
Ordering
Purchase process was straightforward. UT does not accept Paypal, so I had to use a credit card. The transaction was processed, and I received an email confirmation very shortly.
The Shopify software that manages the order does seem to have a few glitches (or may be how UT manages it). The status message for at least a week was "Order Received" and I emailed UT to get an update. No response. I waited for another few days and emailed again. This time I got a response that my mask had been made and was being shipped out that day. I would receive tracking information in 3-4 days.
Four days pass ... no tracking number. I again email them, and this time, I do receive a timely response and an additional email with tracking information. The package was shipped from China on September 19th, and was delivered on October 2 - 14 days.
Order was placed on September 6, so the total end-to-end time was 27 days.
Packaging
The product was well packed, with multiple layers of protection. The mask itself was placed in a ziplock bag with little air pillows inside of the mask to maintain its shape.
The Product
For some reason, I had the impression that the mask was going to be latex - perhaps because of the price. I was happily wrong - the mask is a high quality silicone with a mirror black finish - the same you would find on a latex mask with a shining compound or lube rubbed into it. Edges are neat and sharply finished, interior is perfectly smooth. I ordered the mask with integral lenses - no sharp or rough edges around them on the interior or exterior.
Seaming/flashing is not up to my expectations - all of my other silicone masks (even including the Smitizen) had a much finer seam and better flashing. The thought may have been that black-on-black would not be visible and perhaps better care would be taken on a fleshtone realistic mask. I will bring this up to UT.
The Fit
Surprisingly, excellent. With other Asian-sourced masks, I've found that they tend to be larger, rounder (and thinner) and hence, need some fitment assistance like foam padding. This mask was perfect.
I was particularly impressed with the lip fitment. As you know, Bryan Silva's Studio135 masks were the gold standard of eye and lip fitment, and the UT mask rates at least a 9/10. The mouth on the Shadow Drone mask is not cut open, but I could tell from how it fit around the lips that it would be very, very good. Since the version of the mask I purchased had integral lenses, I can't comment on the eye fitment, but this will be another item I will bring up to the vendor. The thickness of the mask was equivalent to CFX, Realflesh and Studio135 later masks (GQ/Punishment - thicker than a Studio135 Chiseled).
Overall impressions
Very good. I had a good ordering experience from UT, and apart from the need to keep on top of the order's progress, it was smooth. Product was well-packed, shipped (relatively) quickly and was top quality.
I am planning on wearing this over a latex microperf hood with an open mouth. On the initial test try-on, I needed to shine up the latex mask to give it a bit more lubrication wearing the Shadow mask over it. I found that breathing was a little difficult, but perhaps it just needs to be adjusted more. A different mask with a more defined nose proved easier to breathe with. I'm also going to try this with a full microperf hood without the open mouth.
Here are some pics wearing the mask.
