I purchased the Tempur-Pedic after reading the reviews here as well as for theRevolutionary, Patented SLEEP MASTER Sleep Mask and theMindfold Black out Sleeping Mask . Of the three, this one works best for me in blocking external light, but it is not quite as comfortable as the SLEEP MASTER. It also worked better for side-lying positions or leaning against an airline window than the Mindfold. I rotate between them now depending on my particular need at the time. My goal for a sleep mask is to assist in catching 1-2 more hours of good sleep in the summer months when early morning light starts streaming in about 5 AM through a window in my bedroom that is nearly impossible to adequately drape without undo financial expense. Otherwise I am a relatively easy sleeper. I don't expect to wear the mask through the whole night -- just slip it on if I am sleeping lightly or not at all in those final hours. I am most highly motivated to use it when work-related issues cut my available sleep options down to only 4-5 hours, and these are further hampered by summer light. Thus my experience may be different than those who routinely need a full 8-hour mask. I think that one of the most difficult issues in sleep masks is that having differently shaped faces is going to influence whether we are personlaly satisfied or disappointed -- particularly if the expectation is a total blackout of external light. Its hard to get something to fit well enough without being uncomfortable and intruding on sleep yet still be able to provide extreme "black out". Also, the longer we are exposed to low light, the more sensitive we will beocme to just a few stray photons. This mask is pretty decent for comfort, even in a side-lying position or resting against an airline window. It occasionally causes some mild nasal obstruction or compression over my checkbones and pressure on the acupoint called SI-18 -- the latter can be rather uncomfortable but resolves rapidly with slight readjustment. To some extent I am also able to wear the Tempur-Pedic with eyes open, because the design has more padding at the bottom and thereby lifts the fabric away from the eyelids. If I really seriously want to stay awake, keep my eyes open, and minimize distractions from pressure and weight such as in meditation -- then the Mindfold seems to work better as long as I have the option to limit ambient lighting. If I am sleeping and thus expect to have my eyes closed the leak is extremely small even in bright light, and it is unnoticeable to me. If used for meditation, I do have to briefly shift positions a bit to optimize things, but I can usually get both easy breathing and pretty near total blackout. For persons who wear a mask for other purposes, such as simulated experiences of visual impairment, for holotropic breathwork sessions, or a migraine phase with photosensitivity in which complete blackout might not be unnecessary, I think this model could work very nicely. However, for some migraine sufferers the extra weight and places of pressure may become irritating. (I have not had migraines for years so don't know when I will have opportunity to field test that application.) SUMMARY What I liked best about the Tempur-Pedic was its good light blockage, some option for having my eyes open at least for short periods of time and pretty reasonable though not great comfort. At the time of my purchase it was the most expensive of the three and perhaps should be priced more appropriately. So far the weather conditions in which I've used it were moderate. But I do still wonder whether it will become uncomfortable when combined with greater summer heat. I didn't rate it as a 5-star, because there was another mask that was substantially more comfortable during my sleep (Revolutionary, Patented SLEEP MASTER Sleep Mask ), and I wish this one could match it on that feature. Nonetheless, I actually use the Tempur-Pedic as often or more, because it doesn't block my hearing like the SLEEP MASTER does. Normally the additional padding over the ears as employed by the SLEEP MASTER could be beneficial, but poses a problem for me on the nights that I serve call at work. Unfortunately, none of the masks I tried were completely satisfying for both comfort and blackout, despite being on the higher end of the price range for this type of product. I suspect it is inevitable that no single mask will optimally fit both men and women across all levels of fitness and facial contours. Making more customer-specific masks may be possible, but these could then be harder to sell by mail when understandably there is a no-return-if-used policy due to hygeine policies.
