do you know why my select tool would be greyed out while doing this?

Yes, because you checked "Smart Select".
You may either use semi-automated Smart Select or select vertices manually while Smart Select is unchecked.

Working like a charm, thanks! Follow up question though, do you know why my select tool would be greyed out while doing this? i am having to go poly by poly in edit range, which is fine, but would love to make this process faster in the future. 

Well, I might have gotten out over my skis on this one.

 I have a character wearing a tight face covering, think a spandex super hero mask. I used Zbrush to extract the face covering from the mesh so that the topology is the same as the face. Is there a way to make it so that the mask accessory morphs to match the face expression, or is there a way for me to edit the mask for a few set expressions?

I don't know why i thought transfer weights would work. it wasn't until it got the mask made that i realized that facial expressions are basically morphs and not driven by bones.

See below for the mask  at resting and then when the character smiles.