Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The mask has drawstrings on the bands that go behind your ears, that's kind of cool. The removable filter that goes into the mask was described as having "activated carbon" in it, which is kind of a big deal. Activated carbon filters out a lot of fine particulate. For one, the filter is kind of small. It doesn't span the length and width of the mask. The filter is also very thin, I held it up to the light, and am assuming the tiny dark dots I see in the filter is the "activated carbon." I spend a lot of time in Sacramento in areas that are notorious for bad allergies. This year has proven pretty heinous for a lot of people's respiratory issues. As soon as I received the mask, I immediately inserted the filter and put it on. I used it for less than an hour before I noticed that I felt particulate building up in my throat and lungs. I could probably get just as good of protection by putting a bandanna over my face- which is what I've often done in the past to filter out dust and car exhaust when I bike. Going to try to return for a refund. EDIT: Company promptly responded to my review, agreed to refund me fully without having to return my product. The stipulation for this refund being I either deleted my review or changed it to 5 stars. I asked if they could simply send me a shipping label so that I could return the product and receive my refund, fair and square. In response to that, the company is sloughing me off and redirecting me to amazon. So here I am snitching them out. Don't buy this product. After I had tried this I went to a hardware store and just bought some dust masks. I don't know why I didn't do it sooner- I could immediately breath well after putting it on.