Well, Aura is not in my area yet - may never be so I can't help you there. BenM is rarely used in my area period just because the stores are few and far between.

Dunn Edwards is primarily on the west coast, not in my area either. But, I do know a few other consultants/designers who are very dedicated to DE.

Wondering if DE wouldn't be the best option for you since the correct, exact color is so important?

BTW, taking a magic eraser to flat paint doesn't always work out so well! :D

Here is the thing about flat paint. If you bump it with your elbow or a grocery bag walking by or if someone comes over to your house and leans on the wall, it will show. It will show as a burnish mark and will look more prominent with sunlight shining down the wall. Flat paint will hold up to nothing. The good points about flat paint are that they hide everything (flaws, seams, humps, etc) and they touch up the best. The best scenario for using flat paint is an area that nobody ever touches...this is why we use it so much on ceilings.

I always ask people if they want to be touching up all the time...most say no. They want the house painted with something that will last. You say you want something that will be washable and touch up? Generally speaking, washable paints touch up poorly...that's just the way things are. But, if you have the washability, you will not be touching up very often.

As for the BM Matte...I have had heard mixed reviews for years. Some swear it is washable and scrubbable and others say no way. My theory is that only a very small percentage of people regularly wash their walls anyway. But, if you are worried about the washability then go with the Regal Eggshell. It has some sheen so flaws will show up more, but that is the price you pay for washability. Most people are okay with that low of a sheen.

Did you consult with your painter????

A professional painter should be offering you advice and guidance.

Good job, PaintGuy.

Michael

I have BM Regal Eggshell throughout most of the house (including kitchen and DR) and love it! It has very low sheen, practically matte, wipes easily, I have no paint residue coming off and you can't see areas where I've wiped. I even had a couple spots where I had to use a Mr Clean Magic Eraser (thanks to DH) and those don't show either.

fatlady-

We painted our new construction house ourselves using mostly BM Matte and the matte finish goes on well, touches up easily and does not appear to show more marks than any other finish I've used. The best part about the matte finish is that it looks rich and lucious, not glossy (which I hate) but not flat and institutional either. We used very strong colors and some light colors and both look very nicely in the matte finish.

To be honest, we are not clean freaks and are hard on stuff. We painted in March, moved in in August and through final construction, moving in, settling, organizing (or, rather, trying to) and 2 hairy, dirty muttskis and the not hairy but still dirty kid, DH and self, the matte finish looks great.

sandyponder

I wish I could speak to my painter, but I don't know Spanish! He is a sub to my contractor, and communicating just the different colors has been very difficult.

Thanks for the feedback. I am now convinced that flat is not the way to go.

I know eggshell would is easier to clean but I cann't stand the idea of any sheen on the walls.

Good point paint guy--if we can wash it we probably won't need to touch up (hopefully). I just heard such mixed reviews on the matte.

So now, I am between the aura and taking a chance on the matte finish.Interesting to me is that nobody really felt strongly about the aura paint.

Paintguy & Brushworks-- have you had any trouble matching colors with aura? Do you think it is worth the additional cost?

Thanks so much.

fatlady-

I would have tried Aura but they haven't yet rolled it out in my neck of the boonies. I drove 2 hours to try C2 and am glad I did, I love their colors, but as I said in another post, I find C2 much less forgiving than BM matte. However, I've been painting with BM for a long time and only used C2 once, so I think it was more of an issue with the painter than the paint.

Having said that, I frankly don't see that much of a difference in the C2 paint color and the C2 color mixed in BM matte finish, so maybe the whole Aura, err, aura is lost on me. I know that BM Aura and C2 use a higher number of colorants (16 maybe) than regular BM, but I can't see the difference so I didn't spend the time, money or effort to find Aura or go back to the C2 dealer for C2 paint. But I just love C2 colors, much fresher than BM, so I have them mixed in BM matte.

The sandyponder household is supremely disinterested in cleaning or touching up paint, and we are truly hard on stuff, so if the matte finish was a bear to keep clean, believe me, I would say so.

sandyponder

I've always been told that it's impossible to make C2 colors in Benjamin Moore. Your C2 tinting machine has 16 colorants and the Benjamin Moore paints are made with the 12 universal tinting colorants that are used for all paints, so it's just impossible to hit all the hues needed for some colors with less colorants. I'm sure they can get it close though, but my paint store won't even try.

I haven't had a chance to use Aura yet...probably early next week I will try some. I haven't heard that matching colors was such a concern though.

Aura is worth the extra cost, which isn't much when divided by the sf.

C2 has 16 colorants available. However they don't use 16 colorants in every color. Most colors are 4-8.

Michael

Hi guys!
I "hate" to say this, but...I "THINK" the Aura-system uses the same (or nearly so) type of COROB tinters that C2 prefers...therefore the same # of colorants I think (16).

>>> Obvious exception: Aura's colorants are waterborne.
>>> C2's are the more traditional "glycol"-based.

* Michael's correct: C2 uses a 16-colorant system. However, 6 colorants is the max for any C2 color. I've never tinted one with 7.
* Matching between Aura & C2 should be easier, since each has 16-colorants to pull from.

>>> However...going from complex Aura or C2 color "down" into a line with the traditional 10-12 colorants, is very tricky.
I've tried!!!

Faron

Just wanted to add I'm another one who doesn't have access to Aura yet. Am anxious to give it a try, though ;)

moonshadow, aren't you in Chicago area? All the JC Lichts stores carry it.

Yeeaah..I haven't checked in awhile. JC Licht just a hop skip and jump away. Thank you! (feeling silly blush)

You know what this means now, don't you? I'm going to have to find a room to paint.

Can one get the standard "Linen White" in Aura ?
Thanks,
salbwil

Great info, and I will try Aura when it gets here, a paint obsessive like me could not pass it up. WRT the C2 colors mixed in regular BM, I'm sure a great deal of the complexity is lost, but the C2 colors are so rich and the matte finish is so "deep" that it works. I figure that just about the time I want to repaint the house, maybe 5 years or so, our local yokel BM store ought to have Aura and maybe C2 will even be in the city that's 45 minutes from us.

sandyponder

I attended a contractors meeting today at Abcon Paint & Flooring, and they were introducing Aura. I got my free fandecks too. It's grand opening here 11/1/07.

My wife has the family room and hallway planned out for Aura.

Michael

Linen doesn't appear on the fandeck.

However, they have some very nice whites to introduce to your decor.

Michael

Here's my disappointing update--I had my painter drive 40 minutes to the paint shop best known for matching colors. There was one guy in the store that was the "expert" at matching the aura colors.

We tried 10 different shades, and none of the aura paint could match the regular BM colors that i had selected. A huge waste of time and money.

Worst yet, I am back to square one, banging my head on the wall trying to determine a paint finish. My husband says just go with the eggshell, but I don't like sheen.

If I do go with the BM Regal Matte, will the match the ounce size BM "Access" colors that I selected?

(I am hoping that most of the issues people have had with the BM Matte is due to dark colors burnishing? Does that sound likely or just wishful thinking??)

Thanks for your input.

I don't know if this helps but . . . I used Regal Matte in Lewisville Green in my Dining Room which is a medium dark green. The color matched the sample very well and it is washable if you let it cure. Two months after we painted we had the floors refinished and I had to wash all the walls in the house to remove the dust with absolutely no burnishing.
I have Moore's K&B satin in most of the other parts of the house and it has proved to be very washable. It also matched the sample very well, but I am sure you don't want that much shine.

Aura can be made in any BM color. However, it's virtually impossibly to match any color over a variety of sheens since sheen plays a part in how your eye sees color. As for durability, all Regals (except matte) have been reformulated so that they are all far more durable than before, especially the flat. However, from what I have seen and heard, none are as durable as the Aura finishes.

I used the matte on one wall adjacent to the wall with eggshell...it already needs touch ups (entry hall) and we're not even living there! Just coming in and cleaning up after subs are there...mostly it's the kids hands and stuff...but it does not wash off...I used a primer and 2 coats...I have eggshell in the rest of the house and it does not stand out as having a sheen like satin does...and it does clean well...good luck on your decision!
Tara

I could be mistaken, and don't have a sample jar handy, but aren't the BM sample pots done in eggshell finish? Perhaps that would help, just pick a sample pot ($3.50 or so) and try that out on a scrap piece of drywall or heavy flat paper (posterboard without gloss). That would give you a better idea of how that sheen is. (Not trying to sway you, but it's got such a low sheen compared to some other's eggshells, you might find it acceptable.)

paintguy, was thinking of you the other day. I called the two JC Licht closest to my area and both were sold this year to other owners, so no go with the Aura till Nov. The IL stores have it, but I don't relish fighting traffic to get to Tinley Pk (think that's the nearest one). Will have to have a little more patience I guess ;)

Awww, I thought all the Lichts stores had it. I also thought that Benjamin Moore bought all the Lichts stores. I just tried some Aura last week that I got from the Geneva Lichts. I had some problems with the differential between cut and roll showing (yes I let the cuts dry first) but other than that it seems like good stuff. And yep all the BM sample pots are done with Regal Eggshell, which used to be called Aquavelvet.