How do I change my appearance in Battlefield 3?

I purchased the Specact DLC, but can seem to only change my player's camouflage.

I've seen various masks and helmets in other matches. Do I have the ability to change these for my player?

The appearance of your character depends on several things - most notably your kit. While you can customise camouflage for each one, it really boils down to the kit that you're using, and which team you're on (Russian/American). And, of course, the higher your level, the more you will have to choose from.

Sadly, not much granularity is offered; you only have vague control.

You can change this Apperance in the customization screen while in-game. Enter the kit customisation menu, and form there choose the appearance option. There you can change the look of your character, based on the kit itself.

Keep in mind that there is currently a bug when it comes to saving your appearance; if you leave a server and join a new one you may need to set it again.

You can change the appearance from the customize menu. Of course you'll have to level up to select different camo. Oh, and remember your appearance is kit based. So if you change your appearance on Assault, then switch to Engineer you'll have to also change the appearance of your Engineer kit.

All you can change about your appearance is the camo. Other masks and gear depend on the camo selected.