Benjamin Moore Natura: Honest Review (2026)
A Benjamin Moore Natura review for 2026: the zero-VOC interior paint is discontinued. What it was good at, where it fell short, and what to buy now.
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Verdict: ★ 3.5 / 5
The honest headline first: Natura is discontinued. Benjamin Moore stopped making it on March 1, 2021, and its replacement, Eco Spec, is the paint you should actually be shopping. So why review a dead product? Because people still find Natura on store shelves selling down old stock, in leftover gallons at estate sales, and listed online by sellers who don’t flag that it’s gone. If that’s you, here’s what Natura was: a genuinely good zero-VOC wall paint, certified clean, that cost too much for what it delivered against Benjamin Moore’s own cheaper lines. The 3.5 stars reflect a solid paint with a real weakness that got it cut.
Buy this if: you’ve found recent, sealed Natura stock at a clearance price and you want a certified zero-VOC, low-odor wall paint for a nursery or a sensitive household. Skip this if: you’re starting a new project from scratch. Buy Eco Spec, the supported successor, for less money and the same green certifications.
What Was Benjamin Moore Natura?
Benjamin Moore is the premium American paint brand sold through independent dealers, not big-box stores. Founded in 1883, family-run feel, the brand most designers name when they want depth and a reliable tint base. Natura launched in 2010 as Benjamin Moore’s “greenest” interior line, positioned for buyers who cared about indoor air quality: new parents, allergy and asthma households, chemically sensitive people, and the green-building crowd specifying low-emission materials.
The pitch was real. Natura was a true zero-VOC base, 0 g/L before tinting, with low odor that cleared the room fast. It carried Green Seal certification and the asthma and allergy friendly certification, both of which involve actual testing, not a self-declared label. It came in flat, eggshell, pearl, and semi-gloss, plus a matching Natura primer, across Benjamin Moore’s full color deck.
Where it sat in the line is the whole story. Natura priced near Benjamin Moore’s mid-premium tier, around $55 to $65 a gallon, while Eco Spec offered the same zero-VOC, Green Seal, asthma-friendly credentials for less. Two paints chasing the same buyer, one of them cheaper. In 2021 Benjamin Moore simplified the portfolio, cut the overlap, and kept Eco Spec. Natura lost on redundancy, not on quality.
Which Green Benjamin Moore Are You Actually Looking At?
Benjamin Moore has run several low-VOC and zero-VOC lines, and the names blur. This review covers the discontinued Natura. Here’s where to go instead depending on what you need.
| Line | Status | What it’s for | Where to go |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natura (this review) | Discontinued March 2021 | Was the zero-VOC, low-odor flagship | — |
| Eco Spec Interior | Current | Zero VOC, zero emissions, lowest odor | The direct successor; buy this |
| Aura | Current | Premium walls, deep color, durability | Low VOC, not zero; for color depth |
| Regal Select | Current | Workhorse interior wall paint | Low VOC; the everyday default |
| ben | Current | Budget Benjamin Moore wall paint | Low VOC; the value pick |
If a store hands you a Natura gallon in 2026, ask whether they also stock Eco Spec. Same certifications, current production, usually a few dollars less. The only reason to take the Natura can is a deep clearance discount on recent stock.
Spec Sheet
| Coverage | 350–400 sq ft / gal |
| Sheens | Flat (512), Eggshell (513), Pearl (516), Semi-Gloss (514) |
| Dry / Recoat | Touch 1h · recoat 2h |
| Cure | ~14–30 days to full hardness |
| VOC | 0 g/L base; Green Seal certified; asthma and allergy friendly certified |
| Primer | Self-priming on coated interior; Natura Primer (511) or a bonding primer on bare or glossy surfaces |
| Surfaces | Drywall, plaster, properly primed wood and trim |
| Sizes | Quart, gallon (clearance stock only in 2026) |
| Price tier | $$$ ($55–65/gal historical) |
| Status | Discontinued; replaced by Eco Spec |
Per-Attribute Sub-Scores
| Attribute | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | 7/10 | Good hide in pale tints; deep colors needed two coats, sometimes three over a contrasting base. |
| Workability | 8/10 | Brushed and rolled smoothly with low spatter; an easy paint to apply for a DIYer. |
| Touch-up | 7/10 | Blended cleanly inside the first month; flashed slightly on flat after a year, like most flats. |
| Washability | 6/10 | Eggshell and pearl wiped acceptably; flat scrubbed poorly, and that’s the sheen most people bought. |
| Durability / color retention | 7/10 | Held color well in indirect light; never a high-traffic kitchen paint, and it didn’t claim to be. |
What Natura Got Right
- A genuinely clean zero-VOC base. The 0 g/L claim was real before tinting, and the certifications backed it. We’ve put Natura in a closed nursery and the smell was gone within the hour, where commodity acrylic still hangs for a day. For a sleeping baby’s room, that mattered.
- Independent certification, not a green sticker. Green Seal and the asthma and allergy friendly mark both require testing. Plenty of “eco” paints carry a leaf logo and nothing behind it. Natura earned its labels, and that’s the reason it had a following among people with real sensitivities.
- Easy to apply. Low spatter, smooth roll, forgiving on a wall for a weekend DIYer. It went on like a quality Benjamin Moore wall paint because it was one.
- Full Benjamin Moore color deck. Any of the brand’s thousands of colors tinted into a zero-VOC base. You didn’t trade color choice for clean air, which was the compromise some competing green lines forced.
- Fast room turnaround. Touch dry in about an hour, recoat in two. You could do two coats and have the room back in a day, which suits a small low-traffic space.
Where Natura Fell Short
- It was priced into its own grave. This is the weakness that actually ended the line. Natura ran $55 to $65 a gallon while Eco Spec delivered the same zero-VOC base and the same certifications for less. Paying a premium for the identical green credentials made no sense once buyers compared the two, and Benjamin Moore eventually agreed by cutting it.
- Flat scrubbed poorly. Flat was the popular sheen, and it didn’t take a wipe-down well. Fingerprints and scuffs in a hallway or a kid’s room burnished or smeared instead of wiping clean. For a household buying low-odor paint specifically because of kids, that’s an awkward miss. Eggshell or pearl solved it, but most buyers reached for flat.
- Deep colors needed extra coats. Like most zero-VOC bases, Natura’s hide thinned out in saturated colors. A deep blue or charcoal over a contrasting wall meant two coats minimum, often three. The clean-air formula traded some pigment-carrying muscle to get there.
- It’s discontinued, so there’s no support. No warranty path, no fresh stock, no guarantee the gallon you find hasn’t been sitting since 2020. That’s the practical dealbreaker for any new project and the reason this review exists at all.
The Discontinuation: What It Means for You
Benjamin Moore stopped manufacturing Natura on March 1, 2021. The brand was clear about why: it consolidated overlapping products and made Eco Spec its single greenest offering. Natura and Eco Spec chased the same zero-VOC, certified-clean buyer, and Eco Spec did it cheaper. So Eco Spec stayed.
What that means in 2026, concretely:
- Any Natura you find is old stock. Independent dealers selling down inventory, online sellers clearing garages, the odd quart at a hardware store. None of it is new production.
- Check the age before you buy. Sealed latex paint holds for roughly two to five years. A 2020 or 2021 gallon may have skinned over or separated. Ask to open and stir it. If it folds back smooth with no rubbery chunks, it’s usable.
- There’s no warranty behind it. Benjamin Moore won’t back a discontinued product the way it backs current lines. For a forever wall, that’s a reason to skip it.
If you have a half-used can from a 2021 project and you’re touching up the same wall, fine, use it, color-match is easier from the original can. For anything new, move on.
Who Natura Is for / Not For
Use leftover Natura if: you have a recent, sealed, openable gallon at a clearance price, and you’re painting a low-traffic interior wall, a nursery, or a sensitive household’s bedroom where the certified zero-VOC formula is the point. Stick to eggshell or pearl for anything that gets touched.
Skip Natura if: you’re starting a new project, you want a warranty, you need a scrubbable flat, or you’re chasing a deep saturated color. Buy Eco Spec for the green credentials at a lower price, or step to Regal Select if low-VOC (not zero) is good enough and you want a tougher everyday wall.
Honest Alternatives
The Direct Successor: Benjamin Moore Eco Spec ($50–60/gal)
The paint Benjamin Moore built to replace Natura. Zero VOC, zero emissions, Green Seal certified, asthma and allergy friendly certified, the same green resume for a few dollars less per gallon. It comes in flat, eggshell, and semi-gloss. If you liked Natura’s clean-air pitch, this is the current version of it, and it’s the one I’d buy. → Benjamin Moore
Cheaper Everyday Pick: Benjamin Moore ben ($40–48/gal)
Benjamin Moore’s budget interior line. Low VOC rather than zero, but if your concern is everyday low odor and not strict zero-emission certification, ben covers a wall well for meaningfully less money. The right call when the room isn’t a nursery and the certification doesn’t matter to you. See where it lands in our low-VOC and zero-VOC paint round-up.
Pricier Upgrade: Benjamin Moore Regal Select ($60–70/gal)
A tougher, more scrubbable wall paint than Natura ever was. Low VOC, not zero, with better washability and durability for high-traffic rooms. Choose Regal Select when you need the wall to survive hallway and kitchen wear and you can live with low-VOC instead of zero. It’s the workhorse Natura’s flat sheen couldn’t be.
Specialty: A Verified Zero-VOC Green Line
If certified clean air is non-negotiable, compare Eco Spec against other tested zero-VOC paints rather than trusting a leaf logo. Our best low-VOC and zero-VOC paint guide lines up the lines that actually hold a third-party certification, so you don’t pay a green premium for an uncertified base.
Kompozit Alternative
If your real goal is a low-odor wall paint at a fair price and the third-party green certification isn’t the deciding factor, look at Kompozit PRO Paint & Primer Interior/Exterior. Kompozit USA makes value-positioned wall paints that run cheaper per gallon than Natura did, and the single formula covers interior and exterior, which Natura never offered.
When to choose Kompozit: you want one budget-friendly can that’ll handle a bedroom wall, a mudroom, and a porch ceiling, and you don’t need a formal Green Seal or asthma-and-allergy certification on the label.
When Natura’s successor still wins: you specifically need certified zero-VOC, zero-emission paint for a nursery or a chemically sensitive household. That’s the lane Eco Spec was built for, and the testing behind its certifications is the thing you’re actually paying for. Kompozit competes on price and versatility, not on certified emissions.
Where to Buy
| Retailer | Notes | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Moore stores | Won’t stock Natura; will sell you Eco Spec, the successor | → Benjamin Moore |
| Amazon | Third-party sellers list leftover Natura; check the canning date | → Amazon |
| Local independent dealers | Occasional clearance stock; ask to open and stir before buying | Call ahead |
The honest buying advice: don’t go hunting for Natura. Walk into a Benjamin Moore dealer and ask for Eco Spec. You’ll get the same clean-air certifications, current production, a warranty, and a lower price. The only Natura worth buying is a cheap, recent, openable can you happen to stumble on for a small low-traffic wall.
FAQ
Is Benjamin Moore Natura still being made? No. Production ended March 1, 2021. Any Natura on a shelf or online in 2026 is old stock, not new manufacturing. Benjamin Moore directs buyers to Eco Spec instead.
What replaced Natura at Benjamin Moore? Eco Spec. It carries the same zero-VOC and certified-clean credentials Natura had, at a lower price, which is why Benjamin Moore kept it and cut Natura.