Hello! I trust everyone had a pleasant holiday season. I took a little time off and then the world was still on fire and so I’ve been mostly off doing other things. As the meme says, I could really go for some precedented times, right about now. Ahem.

Anyway! While I was gone, the nice folks at HALOLIFE reached out to me to ask if I’d like to try one of their HALOmasks. I’ll be honest: most of you know I spent most of last year sewing and donating masks, and I’d gone through a few different iterations of trying different designs and materials and tweaking patterns, and I didn’t figure a mass-produced mask was going to be terribly different than the ones I make. I mean, theirs have a nanofilter, so the filtration would be better, but the actual user experience of wearing the mask would be about the same, right?

Welp. They sent me a mask and I’m about to eat my words, because as much as I’d looked at their retail price of $35 and rolled my eyes (though right now there’s an available $5 off coupon at Amazon, but still), these masks make mine look like torture devices. Let’s review:

1) They have a really sturdy nose clip, like the ones I use. No glasses fogging whatsoever. Okay, we’re even.
2) They have adjustable ear loops, which I also make. But their elastic is ridiculously soft and even after long wear, there’s no chafing. Point to HALO.
3) The masks come in 4 different sizes (I only make 3) and mine fit my face perfectly. Hmm.
4) Their lining is a soft bamboo material—super comfy—and the chin bit is actually a separate stretchy panel that means there is zero gapping at the chin no matter your face shape. I make a few different designs but sometimes there’s a gap.
5) My masks are cotton, which I consider to be a very breathable fabric, right? HALO masks bill themselves as both moisture-wicking and super breathable. I don’t know which one of those two things made the difference, but I can tell you that normally a stint in one of my masks ends with a slightly sweaty face, and yesterday I wore my new HALO mask for an hour and when I took it off I was still cool and comfy, and not sweaty at all.

The bottom line? It’s a really comfortable, effective, nice mask. The price would prevent me from buying a whole bunch of them because I’m, y’know, super cheap, but if I was needing a good mask for more frequent wear (if I worked outside the home, for example) I would spring for a couple of HALOmasks for sure. Worth checking out if you’re in need of a mask you can comfortably wear for extended periods.

[Standard disclaimer: While the product was provided to me for free, all opinions are my own and unsolicited. I don’t review stuff I don’t like, and my opinions can’t be purchased.]