In our previous home (where I painted and repainted and repainted AGAIN), once I discovered Aura I didn't want to use anything else. I covered dark colors with light colors (i.e., deep turquoise to soft sage green) without priming, in just two coats of Aura. I think it's excellent paint and I highly recommend it.

I've used it in both my bathrooms (Aura - Bath & Spa basically the same thing but with the mildew additives) and it's wonderful. Dark blue and red covered fully with one coat, but I still did two. It scrubs nice and it's the only paint I've ever been able to touch up where you absolutely cannot tell once dry. Not weird flashing. The matte finish is beautiful and looks almost velvety, IMO.

I think the downfall would be you may end up using more paint because it's thick. I believe the square footage is less coverage. I remember reading that somewhere (from a painter here maybe) and it makes sense. I will always use it for the bathrooms, but I wouldn't spend the money to paint the whole interior of my house. I think there are other paints that are good and cost less.

Thanks we decided to go with aura. I really like f&b pavilion gray also and we might go with that for our master bedroom since it's only one room. Any thoughts on getting colors from the aura paint deck? Are they"better" for any reason?

Sheelsback what paint would you recommend for whole house interior?

Yikes just googled aura and it seems there are more naysayers than fans. I'm concerned my painter will have issues with application and maybe I should stick to regal select.

Aura matte is the only paint I will use. I even bite the cost and use it in my rental properties. The main reason I think Aura is so great beside the velvety appearance is that you can touch up this paint for years and the color and sheen matches. So if you have a drywall patch or sparkle area, you can just paint the tiny section of repair and it looks totally normal without having to roll out a whole wall. This is why I use it in my rentals: I don't cut it for every tenant turnover. I can just roll out the walls quickly and be finished in a third of the time.

I also think the coverage is better than average. Usually a single gallon will give me 2 complete coats in a normal sized room plus a bit leftover for touch ups (I store in mason jars, not the can).

We used Aura matte on all the walls and ceilings in our house in recent years (satin finish on all the base molding), and really like it. FWIW, we also did much of the painting ourselves, and had few issues using Aura. Would use it again without hesitation. We've used both the regular version, as well as the Bath and Spa version (no noticeable difference in application or wear).

One of the colors we used, Mascarpone, did exhibit the annoying tendencies people complain about---the paint pulled when back-brushing over it, and it sagged and dripped if too much was rolled or brushed onto the walls. Luckily, this wasn't the first color we'd used (nor the last), so I do think these tendencies might be color/formula specific. We really didn't experience these issues with the other colors we used (or at least, as far as I can recall); Super White, Pensive, Spa, Constellation, Handmade, Black, Muslin, Antiguan Sky. Those of you familiar with BM colors will note that we used both Affinity and non-Affinity (regular) colors, mixed up in Aura paint. We were nervous painting with Aura the first time we used it, given all the horror stories we'd heard and read, and all the "special" painting techniques for Aura we'd read as well. But our fears were unfounded (with the exception of Mascarpone, as I mentioned above).

Black "separates" if left standing a long time (a month, or two, or three?) after it's been mixed up, but mixed back up to perfect consistency. Antiguan Sky's consistency from the start was a bit strange. It reminded us of pudding, but it rolled on beautifully, and gave us no trouble.

Paint touch-ups for all colors have blended in seamlessly color-wise. Based on our own experience, I highly recommend using the same type/texture roller (for larger than spot touch-ups) so the texture will match.

The paint will "burnish" if you need to really scrub something off the wall (especially "metal" marks), so I try really hard to concentrate any scrubbing (using the tiniest dab of BKF or Lava soap) to the mark itself, while being careful to avoid scrubbing any surrounding paint (as best I can).

The velvety texture of the matte finish looks rich and warm, even in rooms and hallway(s) with white walls. DH especially LOVES the almost leather-like texture of the Black paint on the bricks in our FR.

I am a typical kind-of-bad-at-painting DIY person and have recently used Ben, Regal and Aura. Just my opinion - I just used Aura in white to cover semigloss dark grey bathroom wainscoting and I. Was. Disappointed. I thought I'd be using two coats and instead I had to go to four. If I wanted to do four coats I would have just used Ben. I would use Aura if I was going for a really dark rich color but to me the covering properties were way overstated for a light color. Also with aura it does set up super fast so forget about cutting in and then rolling over still-wet paint. Just brush roll and go.

Husband comes out of bathroom after third coat: "So...how do you like the paint color in the bathroom?"

Me: "It needs another coat."

Him: "Ok good. I didn't want to be the one to break your spirit by pointing that out."

I use Aura on walls and regal on ceilings. I love Aura, if you go to paint pro forum's- 90% of them prefers to use it.

wow I hate to see these conflicting reviews. it seems so love it or hate it. I would love to have my walls have a velvety smooth texture but don't want my painter to have issues. I guess we can try one room and see how it goes.

msjam2 what do you use on trims? I was planning on telling the painter to go regal satin on trims since we plan to do aura matte on walls.

I certainly hope so !. Right now, as we "speak" , my entire exterior, brick, trim, shutters, is being painted with Aura.. On the interior, Aura has been used in 3 rooms so far and the colors are very rich looking, covers very well.. No issues with white trim.

I like it very much. We did find that it took three coats of OC-129 Alabaster to cover a very Miami Vice green.

agk2003- I use BM Advance on trims, I LOVE THAT PAINT!

thanks! btw regarding primer (these are bare gyp walls) will aura cover if he uses untinted primer or should we do tinted ?

Are you using a pro to paint? They should know what to do as far as priming. I DIY 99% of the time. When I'm painting dark colors ( like my black front door), I had my primer (Zinzer) tinted gray then sprayed my paint- I used Advance for my front door.

Yes pro painter but he just relocated from Europe so he has not yet worked with aura.

First I have heard of this paint. How much and from where? Thank you

Several years back we painted our DR with BM Aura in a yellow color and it took 3 coats over a white paint. At that time it was $50/gallon. Now that we are painting the LR/Foyer/hall, I have a difficult time swallowing $70/gallon for it now. Instead, I decided on the BM Regal Select and I love it. It glided on so nicely and we had no issued with it at all. DH even mentioned how nice of a paint it is. And it took just two coats over the exact same white paint that was in the DR where the Aura needed 3 coats. I choose Beach Glass eggshell and it looks gorgeous on the walls. This color is GORGEOUS. Also, the Regal has a good drying time, but, it didn't seem to dry quite as fast as Aura, IMO, which was a plus.

BM Regal Select will be my go-to paint for now on.

I actually went to the paint store today and was discussing it with the bm guy. He told me unless I was using a dark color that aura is overkill and he suggested just going with regal select. I think we may spring for the f&b in the master bedroom but am now leaning towards regal select. My bigger issue is color. We have distant gray oc-68 on our kitchen cabinetry which is open to the LR and DR paired up with white quartz so it's fairly stark. We will keep that color for the trim but I want a warmer white for the walls. Thinking white dove but hubby likes linen white at 50% strength which looks a bit too buttery to me. Looking for a happy medium. BM suggested seapearl saying it's the darker version of dove white. Waiting to paint some larger swatches.

I have been painting with Regal Select and was having FOMO about Aura, but this thread cured me!

Just put the third coat of Aura on our bedroom walls. I have used Aura religiously and have been extremely satisfied.....except this time. The paint is not covering at all! I always have only used one coat of Aura to cover reds, maroons, yellows, blues, etc. This time it looks like I have missed 5-7 places on the wall. I painted my way through college so I'm not a jack-leg painter. This is the worst paint I have ever used and will never use it again. Shows every flaw...looks like I missed half the wall.

We’ve always used plain old Behr Premium Plus, do 2 coats, and it looks fantastic 10 years later when I am sick of the color and need to change the room. I get eggshell finish for the walls, semigloss for trim, and have no problems. The finish is beautiful. I’m amazed people are so eager to pay more for paint.

My take based on painting many rooms and trims over the years

Behr is terrible, rubbery and the colors are inconsistent. Just no!

Regal is the go to for price, value, and performance.

Aura is just for dark colors and can be very tricky to use - colors vary

Always prime and 2 coats when painting over a color or going dark over white...always!