Spellbound eye mask - mask discontinued by Coquette - review by timelady

This eye mask is part of Coquette's "Spellbound" collection, which according to Coquette, is comprised of "beautifully rich, luxurious and demure looking corsets [that] have been designed with a light bondage twist that incorporates the company’s exquisite corsetry with a subtle hint of fetish." In other words, the Spellbound Collection is fetish-light, nothing too far off the beaten track for Coquette, but just a little bit adventurous. This aspect of the collection translates into this piece, the eye mask, as you could use it in either an innocent or vaguely naughty way: simply put, you can use the eye mask traditionally (as I have done) to block out light when you're trying to sleep OR as part of your bondage/fetish routine. For either purpose, the main intent of the item is to keep you from seeing what's around you, and it certainly does that adequately.

The design of the eye mask is very simple. The packaging describes the item as follows: 1 PC Satin eye mask with double strap detail. This certainly covers it. You have your basic eye-covering mask, and it is secured to your face by a double strap (that you lift over and behind your head). The straps are NOT adjustable.

The craftsmanship is medium - not super cheap looking, but not exquisite either. The straps, while thin, do not look like they are in any danger of ripping or snapping. The mask itself feels pretty flimsy.

Coquette calls it a "satin" eye mask, but it is really 50% Acetate/50% Nylon. It's certainly very soft - the front of the mask (that does not touch your skin) feels more like satin, while the back (the part that lies against your face) has an almost velvety feel. The front is silver, and the rest of it (trimming, back, and straps) is black. It's simple, but very pretty.

The mask is one size fits all. I have trouble getting to sleep if there's any light in the room, so I've frequently used sleep masks before. As a result, I was very surprised at how tight the Eye Mask was. I don't have an abnormally big head (though some of my friends might disagree), so it was really strange to have this fit so poorly. I can understand a tight fit to block out the light effectively, but this was ridiculous. The mask felt like it was squeezing my head, especially my eyes and the back of my head where the double-straps rested. I could feel myself actually getting a headache because of the pressure, so I had to take it off after a while - NOT pleasant!

I wanted to like this mask - I really did - but as I described above, the too-tight fit just made it too uncomfortable for extended wear. I can see this maybe being a plus if you are using it for BDSM/fetish, but for a more traditional use, this just did not do it for me.

In my opinion, this just goes to show that companies should stick to what they do well, and Coquette should focus on its lovely corsets.

The back of the mask has THREE attached small tags that are sewn in. One of them just says "Coquette," the other says "O/S" (one size), and then the third has care instructions. I have really sensitive skin, and these tags drove me crazy, so I had to cut them off the mask. Here are the care instructions they provided: "Exclusive of trim, hand wash only, hang to dry." We are also told that the mask was made in China. I really don't know how you could hand wash the mask but NOT the trim, so I'm guessing this is not really washable. This is a major shame, really, because (as I mentioned before) the mask arrived smelling strongly of the paper packaging it came in. Typically I just store my sleep masks in the underwear drawer, and this would be no exception (if I decided to keep it, which I doubt I will). I certainly will not be storing it in its packaging!

The eye mask arrives packaged in a very pretty letter-size slipcover with full color, gorgeous images of the model that are seen on EF. On the front, there is a close up of the model wearing the sleep mask and the words "Spellbound Eye Mask." On the back, that information is repeated again in more detail in both English and French. You simply lift up the top of the package and lift out the eye mask. I sort of wish the mask had been wrapped in some sort of tissue paper, because it smells strongly of paper/packaging when first removed. As a result, I would not recommend keeping the packaging for storage. I did not seen any indication of whether it was recyclable or not, though I would assume so because it is just heavy paper (so far as I can tell).