If you talk to a Ben Moore rep, they’ll tell you that Ben Moore Aura paint is the best thing since the paint roller. At Remark Painting we agree. Aura is unique and has several advantages: it levels like no other paint on the market, it has a new tint system, which resists fading more than any other paint and it is truly scrubbable, even in the matte finish. Plus, it provides superior hiding and great coverage, and, contrary to every other paint on the market, it even has great coverage with very dark, custom colors. Finally, it has super-fast recoat times.

However, when you talk to most professional painters, they often have negative feelings about Aura Paint. They’ll talk about the difficulty ‘maintaining a wet edge’ and may even recount ‘disasters’ when the paint pulled back off the wall.

So, what explains the disconnect? If Aura is such a great paint, why don’t folks who paint for a living, who’ve been painting for decades, tout its benefits? We’ve all heard the expression, ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’. Well, it seems Aura paint, in the hands of professional painters, is a great example.

Because of Aura’s super-fast drying times, it is very difficult to ‘maintain a wet edge’, which is traditionally, the correct way to paint (cutting and rolling as you go, a few feet at a time, so the new section of wall is rolled back into the most recently painted section, before that section has a chance to dry…hence, ‘maintaining a wet edge’). If you apply Aura this way, chances are very good the recently applied paint will be partially dry and then will lift off the wall, creating an ugly mess that is expensive and time consuming to fix.

"If Aura is so great, why do so many professional painters dislike it?"

As such, with Aura paints, especially in hot or dry conditions, it is advisable to cut in the entire room first. Then after it is dry, which is almost always before you’re even finished cutting in, roll out the wall. Because of Aura’s almost insane leveling properties, this works well.

However, this is counter intuitive for professional painters and a good example of why we constantly admonish our painters to read and follow all product label instructions.

It’s also worth noting, Aura paint is expensive, and because of its outstanding leveling properties may not be well suited for new construction work (the exception being level five drywall finishes, where ultra-smooth walls are the goal).

But when it comes to residential and commercial repaints, there is no better paint on the market. Just make sure whoever applies it, is familiar with Aura’s unique characteristics.