Wow. What a pickle you're in.

Painter is whining about using Aura and the SW is promising a "match" but no one can really qualify what "match" means except you.

Duration or Aura - neither one is essentially "better". Each of them meet specific project criteria and are neck and neck in the department of quality. Which is probably the reason you didn't find any conclusive statements on the forum declaring one better than the other.

There is no way - no way - I would let a painter get away with charging more to apply Aura. If he can't paint with Aura, then I'd have to wonder just how good of a painter he really is. Truly pro professional painters can paint with absolute crap paint and it looks like Michael Angelo just left the building. It's only after they're gone and the actual living in the house gets underway that you begin to realize the paint per se is crap -- not the paint job.

Even tho super pro painters can paint with anything, they do have their preferences -- and there's nothing wrong with that. It could be a mix of pricing/margins and actual painting performance he's concerned about. Whatever the reason he likes SW, it's always a good idea to make the painter happy if you can. Typically, Duration is no walk in the park to paint with either. You apply Duration, you don't paint with it  I don't see the argument for Aura being an extenuating circumstance compared to Duration.

If you're selecting regular Ben Moore colors from Classic Colors or Color Preview, maybe let SW take a shot at matching those colors. Not a big stretch there.

If you're looking at Affinity colors for Aura paint, that's a different story IMO. Part of what gives the Affinity colors that final, chic look is the finish of the Aura paint - matte is my favorite.

Wonder if he'd be open to a compromise. Duration for the regular BenM colors and Aura for the Affinity colors -- that is if you can logically break out your color specs that way.

If you mix brands, Aura Matte and Duration Matte, the gloss levels will not match. Duration Matte is shinier than Aura Matte. And, Aura Matte will touch up more seamlessly than Duration.

However, both of them are very, very cleanable to the point that touch up might not even be a concern.

I've had SW do color matches to BM colors in the past and the results were NOT good! The color seemed to lose depth and richness. If you love the colors you've chosen, I would stick with BM.

Can anyone tell me which of these is better

Aura, As posted, if the painter wants to charge more, find a real painter.

Funcolors pretty much said it all.
I'll add two points for the DIYers who may read this thread.
Duration needs to be stirred FAR MORE than Aura while you work with it. It begins to separate very quickly even in the pan. This was a pretty big nuisance for me. I couldn't put as much paint in the pan as I would with Aura and this slowed me down.
Duration Matte is NOT Matte. It is more like Eggshell-Plus in terms of gloss. Aura Matte has the appearance of a more expensive finish IMO. I wouldn't mix the two paints in any sort of open floorplan environment where the two finishes would meet on adjoining walls.

Aura is so easy to paint with...at least that is my experience and I only tried it recently.

Thanks to all of you so very much! We are taking in consideration all of your thoughts and suggestions. Still a hard choice although we do belong to Direct Buy and can get the Sherwin Williams at a great deal! Of course, the "finished" look and outcome is the most important to us. Thanks "funcolors" for understanding my "pickle"!

Any experience, pictures or thoughts on BM Powell Bluff on being considered a "yellow" for a bedroom?

Also, any experience, pictures, or thoughts on SW Dromedary Camel for Master Bedroom?

Thanks, again! Really do appreciate it! Peggy

Peggy,
I just painted two bedrooms Powell Bluff and love love love it. The main rooms (this is a small condo) are BM Wilmington Tan and the bedrooms can be seen from the main social rooms if you look down the hallway, but the flow of the two colors is terrific. I love this color!!

Linda

Thanks so much, Linda! I just looked at the BM "strip" to look at your color "Wilmington Tan" and with the Powell Bluff they look beautiful together!

The funny thing is that BM-#31 Waterbury Cream is at the top of the strip and that is the color that I am painting our foyer, family room that has cathedral ceiling, hallway on first floor and up the stairs into the upstairs hallway.

The Guest Bedroom is at the end of the first floor hallway so you will be able to see the Powell Bluff right off the Waterbury Cream. What do you think? Will this be enough contrast so that the "Guest Bedroom" will have a somewhat "yellow" appearance (to me it doesn't look yellow at all but on some internet pictures, it does)?

Thanks so much and would love to see a picture of your rooms! Peggy

I'm thinking of painting my 2 story foyer and hallway Waterbury Cream, but I'm scared it's too yellow. Do you have any pictures you can post? are you happy with it?

Thanks!

As a DIYourselfer, I love Benjamin Moore paints, but have found the INTERIOR Aura paints difficult to work with because they dry so quickly (I tend to back-brush into the previous stroke but with Aura you have to lay it on and leave it) BUT the EXTERIOR Aura paints are different and easy for me to apply. For interior, I use the Natura BM paint (used in hospitals, etc) to avoid VOCs. Also, no matter what anyone says, two coats always look better than one.

Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting,

Typically, Duration is no walk in the park to paint with either. You apply Duration, you don't paint with it

I know this is a comment you made several years ago but I'm curious what you mean by that statement. I've used Duration once and thought it when on the wall beautifully. I wasn't too impressed with it's durability though.

That does not sound like me?

Sorry about that, I misread the post.

No problem, from what I have heard, it is true , I have never used the exterior, but was never impressed with the interior product

I own a business that restores historic windows. We use Duration on the exterior of most of our jobs because that is what the Dept. of Interior recommends in the scope of work. There is a bit of a learning curve to painting with this product as it has a longer drying time than other paints.

I have used both on my own homeowner projects, as a contractor on client projects and for subcontracted professional painters. I prefer BM over SH across the board for the actual product. I find BM to be easier to use and get results I want. In addition, I dislike SW business model of overpriced product with frequent sales to normalize average pricing. If you don't hit the sale you are over paying. My local store has very uneven service quality due to cycling the best store managers through to larger stores. Paint matching ability has always been inferior to local competitors. Many of these reasons are behind the scenes snapshots into what you painter might be going through as a business that contributes to his pricing and model that the average homeowner might not understand. Best advice is ask questions, do samples, be patient/don't get in such a hurry, COMMUNICATE, don't assume your contractor knows what you want.

I LOVE AURA paint! I find it easy to work with, no lines, dries smooth, good coverage, and cleanable. Easy to do touch ups yrs later and have them be invisible.

quote from above "If you don't hit the sale you are over paying."

If you go there when no sale is going on, you are still over paying, IMO.

If you refer to Consumer's Reports, Aura consistantly scores better than the SW products. On a scale of 100, Aura comes in at 74 pts, Duration gets a score of 61. Aura has a suggested retail of $54, Duration $61.

To put this in perspective, Behr Marquee at $43 gets a score of 83.

quote "To put this in perspective" consumer reports, but whose? Not mine for sure

During my 4 decades of paint contracting, I was primarily a user of Ben Moore products, mainly because customers wanted to see a big name brand. I can definitely state that the Behr Marquee product is as good as any product I ever used from Moore, granted I have been away from contracting for a decade now and paint is constantly evolving.

I quit using Aura for wall painting about 2 years ago though I will still use the Matte finish when people want a washable flat. I'm leaning away from BM these days and more towards SW. BM is more durable for sure, but the application and getting it to look good on the wall is becoming more of a challenge. My theory is that a paint manufacturer will introduce a paint line, people will love it for a while, and then they mess with the formula or cheapen it to increase profits or whatever and the painter will start to notice about 4-5 years down the road. Case in point, I just did a job last year painting trim where I painted an addition in 2008 with BM Aura semi-gloss and there was still a half gallon left from 2008 so I was able to compare the 2008 version with the 2016 version and it was a night and day difference. The 2008 version covered better and levelled out better. The whole reason I used to love Aura was for it's levelling out properties. Ahh well, at least SW is cheaper!

I have used Sherwin williams duration paint to paint the whole house. Here are the issues I ran into with it. I will never use it again! Expensive paint that doesn't perform.

- It doesn't adhere to the wall, doors, etc. For example if I mount a fixture and move it by slightly it takes off the paint. Then if I run my finger along it, the paint will just keep peeling requiring refill and repaint. Very annoying!

- The paint marks up easily and the marks don't come off easily.

- When touched up, the touch-ups are easily spotted.

Sherwin Wiliams primer was used as the base.