I didn't mean to, but I had to laugh when I was asked to review the Master's half mask by Spartacus. In a lot of ways, masks are the epitome of what I find uncomfortable about sexuality. In my sex life, I've always attempted to be fiercely transparent and never hidden- hoods and other bondage headgear are sexy because of their sensory deprivation|Sensory Deprivation elements, but masks offer none of these utilitarian benefits. That said, it has served me well to keep an open mind about sex in the past, and I figured it would serve me similarly to do the same about this item. So I put it on.

The first thing I noticed about the Master's half mask was that it is constructed with three distinctly different pieces of leather. Two are soft, and one-the part that goes across the face-is much more rigid. This is actually a problem because when I pulled the mask over my face the rigid leather pressed uncomfortably against the bridge of my nose. Thinking perhaps I had too big a nose, I gave my rather small-nosed girlfriend the mask to try on, only to hear her complain of the same thing.

Worse than being somewhat uncomfortable across the nose, I next noticed that the mask did not sit securely enough on my head even at varying degrees of lacing. Due to its movement, it occasionally blocked my vision. Being the bottom I am, I had to wonder if this could be twisted to function as a sort of blindfold-tightener; a way to keep blindfolds securely pressed down against my eyes. I'm sure as a top I would just get completely annoyed.

A few weeks later my girlfriend and I made time to test this theory. Unfortunately, even our skinniest blindfold-a little strip of fur-lined leather-caused the mask's bottom-most portions to protrude outwards. Since the tension from the lacing only tightens the top of the mask around the forehead, the mask proved ineffectual even in this perverted use. We'd still have ended up needing bondage tape.

While I can understand the desire to add such a piece to one's toy collection, I think this particular mask is better suited to Halloween costumes than as part of sex play-at least my sex play. Add to that the fact that this mask's manufacturing quality is clearly mediocre at best and I'd be inclined to save my money for an item of more practical application.