Painting With Aura Line of Benjamin Moore Paints

Painting Project -Dining Room
I have always enjoyed working with the creamy texture of Benjamin Moore (TM) paints. Recently, I tried their new product- Aura. The basis of this line is that you do not need to prime the walls; using only two coats- saving time and money.

One of the features was that Aura paints has a quick drying time. You can apply the second coat in one hour. Another is that Aura paint has more pigment color than the other products and is particularly beneficial to use with darker colors providing a more intense chroma ( richer color), avoiding a dull or faded look that you can get with dark colors.

I selected a deep reddish color called Sultan's Palace. The original wall paint was the typical white one would see in a model home. The fine print on the can, advises to use Aura Foundation for deep colors- meaning we're back to 3 coats. The local Benjamin Moore paint store was very helpful and are required to go by the manufacturer guidelines when making a recommendation on to prime or not to prime. 'Sultan's Palace' was not on the list requiring a primer. So, 3 coats were needed to give an overall even finish. However, it does looks great!

The biggest problem on this project was the adhesion properties of 3M Painters tape (the blue tape) in combination with the Aura paint. There is a lot of architectural detail in the room: crown moulding, chair railing, base moulding and 5 arched windows. 3M advertises that you can leave the tape on for 14 days. The sales rep at the local Benjamin Moore store, cautioned to keep it up for only 8 hours. I kept the tape on for 3 days- only because life happens (this is when Frasier got sick). I had to take off the very last 1/8 of an inch of the tape with tweezers on most of the moulding. It sounds crazy but true! The tape split and adhered to the moulding wherever paint touched it. I used a razor when possible to cut away from the wall, but the tape still stuck to the moulding.

I don't know if the root cause of the problem has to do with the properties of the Aura paint and the 3M adhesive qualities, the fact that I kept it on for 3 days, or just the adhesive strength of the blue tape. I painted the third coast without any tape and just wiped off any paint spots on the trim with a wet cloth. Being a decorative artist, I have a very steady hand and was able to do this.

It seems that there are mixed reviews with the professional painters whom I spoke to regarding Benjamin Moore's Aura line.

I would appreciate any feed back on the Aura brand of Benjamin Moore Paints.