I received an interesting email a few months ago. In it, the author indicated that he was the principal of a new company making silicone masks and due to my reputation – both on the blog and across several websites - would I be interested in reviewing their new line?
Of course, I’m sure you could guess the answer.
There was, however, a little hitch. An NDA. For those of you not in the know, an NDA is a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Basically, I could show the product off, but I could not discuss details about “The Company” until they were ready to go public. I figured it was a small enough price to pay since they were specializing in hyper-realistic masks.
I was shown their initial two prototypes – a young black man and an older white guy – and I was encouraged to request any special paint jobs, hairing, additions, etc. to satisfy myself with their level of expertise.
The company is focusing on the “average” face right now. By that, I mean a mask that would blend into a crowd and the goal being to have it indistinguishable from a “real” face. So real it would be unremarkable. Their line will expand to different ethnicities as well as age groups. Male and female masks will also be produced.
But back to business … I decided that I wanted to have my young black stud to have razor-cut stubble hair, a thin moustache and a little bit of beard right below the lower lip.
After a few weeks, I received him, and “DeShawn Thomas” was born.
I have a trio of ethnic masks from SFPX and while they are good, this is a work of art.
First off, the fitment of the mask is excellent and the material is soft, yet clingy and adheres perfectly to the face. I also find that it is quite cool to wear for extended periods.
Detail is amazing. Everything from the whorl of the ears to the arch of the brows to the paintjob itself speaks of meticulous attention to detail. What I like about this mask is the slight imperfections in the “skin” itself that is typical of a real person. Lips are deep and curl around your own and the eyeholes are exceptional. I have very deep-set eyes, so eyeholes are always an issue for me.
In order to test this under real-world situations, I decided to take DeShawn out for a spin. I added some Mehron around my eyes and put my brown CL-Tinters contacts in. Then I went out to a bar (one where wearing a pair of tight leather patrol gloves is not seen as an odd occurrence ... [grin]). I also added a pair of very lightly tinted glasses.
The result? Exactly what was hoped for. I got quite a number of approving glances, but nothing suspicious.
Plus a few phone numbers.
Umm, more than a few...
I've shown "DeShawn" to some other people (two black, one Boricua) - unanimous consensus was that he is extremely handsome, hot-looking and frighteningly realistic, but the interesting thing is that all three had said he looks more blatino than black. In fact, each response included, "If I didn't know it was you and that you were wearing a mask, I'd swear to God that was a real person!"
Bravo for me and for the company!
One buddy said, "What a goddamned handsome fucker!" I even made her boyfriend jealous!
The Puerto Rican said he looked Dominican, and one of the black girls said he looked like a very dark, very handsome Cuban. The black guy said he looked a bit like Robinson Cano, a baseball player (whom I believe is Dominican also).
So it looks like they have a dual-duty mask!
I also posted a number of pictures on Facebook. One commenter (who is also a considerable mask connoisseur) put it best:
"This is a great face on [Deshawn]... subtle and believable. Tell the ‘top secret’ guys they get multiple thumbs up on this one.... making a younger age group of characters is crucial to the market."
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