Buy it when the color decision is the hard part and the job is a room or two. The curated sixty-color deck and the peel-and-stick swatches do the work you would otherwise do squinting under store fluorescents, and the zero-VOC eggshell rolls smooth, hides honestly mid-tone to mid-tone, and leaves a nursery liveable the same evening. At $77 a gallon it is poor value on a twelve-gallon repaint, and eggshell is the only wall sheen Clare makes.
Which Clare Product Are You Buying?
Clare sells under one umbrella, and the finish you pick at checkout decides what arrives. This review is the eggshell Wall Paint.
Spec Sheet
- COVERAGE
- 375–425 sq ft / gal, two coats factored in
- SHEEN
- Eggshell only; semi-gloss sold separately as Trim Paint
- DRY / RECOAT
- Touch dry about 1 hr · recoat 2–4 hr
- FULL CURE
- About 2 weeks
- VOC
- Zero VOC; GREENGUARD Gold certified
- PRIMER
- Self-priming on prepped, similarly colored walls; prime over dark, glossy, or stained surfaces
- SURFACES
- Interior drywall, plaster, previously painted walls
- COLOR DECK
- About 60 curated colors; no in-store custom match
- SIZES
- Quart and gallon; $3 peel-and-stick swatches. No 5-gallon
- WHERE
- Clare.com direct, no big-box retail; free shipping over $200
- PRICE
- $77 / gal, $28 / qt direct from Clare
When It Goes Wrong — and How to Fix It
The old color ghosts through after two coats
Why it happens: Clare self-primes going from one mid-tone to a similar mid-tone. Light over dark is a different job, and without a primer the old color keeps reading through for two or three coats.
The fix: Prime first over dark colors, glossy surfaces, stains, and patches, then two coats of eggshell. The 375-to-425 square feet a gallon coverage figure already assumes two coats, so plan the gallons that way.
A hallway wall is going shiny where people brush past it
Why it happens: Eggshell is a low, soft sheen. It wipes fingerprints and light scuffs with mild soap, but it is not a scrub-it-daily film, and shoulder-rub traffic burnishes it before a true premium washable would show wear.
The fix: Keep Clare's eggshell in bedrooms, living rooms, and low-traffic halls. A corridor that takes daily contact wants a tougher, higher-sheen film, and Clare does not make one for walls.
The bathroom walls are struggling
Why it happens: The formula is mildew-resistant and holds up in a powder room or a well-ventilated bath. A small bathroom taking daily shower steam with poor ventilation is past what an eggshell is built for.
The fix: Step the splash zones up to Clare's semi-gloss Trim Paint, or use a true bath-spec paint for the whole room. In a damp bath, ventilation does more for the finish than the can does.
A touch-up patch still shows months later
Why it happens: Eggshell touches up better than a flat, but once a film has lived on the wall a while, a spot fix reads slightly different from the aged paint around it.
The fix: Re-roll the full wall to a natural corner rather than dabbing. Keep a labelled quart from the job for exactly this — a quart is $28 and there is no store to run to on a Sunday.
Application Settings That Work
- BRUSH
- Rolls smooth with a 3/8-inch nap and brushes cleanly on cut lines. Self-levelling enough that a first-time painter gets a clean wall. Cut in and roll while the cut-in is still wet.
- PRIMER
- Self-priming on a prepped wall going mid-tone to mid-tone. Prime first over dark colors, glossy surfaces, stains, and heavy patches — Clare sells its own primer, or use any sound waterborne sealer.
Clare vs Behr Marquee vs Benjamin Moore Aura
Three ways to buy a bedroom wall. What separates them is less the film than how you get to the color.
| Clare Wall Paint | Behr Marquee | Benjamin Moore Aura | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per gallon | $77 | $48–58 | $85–95 |
| Sheen choice | Eggshell only | Matte, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss | Full range, matte through semi-gloss |
| Color deck | About 60 curated colors; no custom match | The Behr fan deck at every Home Depot | About 3,400 colors mixed at a dealer |
| How you choose the color | $3 peel-and-stick swatches you live with on the wall | Back to chips under store light | Chips at a dealer, from a much wider library |
| Traffic and burnish resistance | Fine in bedrooms; burnishes in a busy hallway | Four sheens let you pick a tougher film | Burnish resistance Clare's eggshell cannot match |
| How you buy it | Clare.com only; free shipping over $200; no 5-gallon | Same-day pickup at Home Depot | A trip to a Benjamin Moore dealer |
| Where it wins | The color decision is the hard part and the job is a room or two | Budget and same-day pickup | A forever room where the color has to read rich and the wall has to last |
If the hard part is choosing, Clare wins, and the $3 swatch is why — you watch the color move through your own light before a gallon leaves the warehouse. If the hard part is the budget or the deadline, Marquee gets you four sheens at half again less, today. If the room has to last and the color has to read rich, Aura is the upgrade, and it brings the sheen range Clare simply does not sell.
What It's Good At
- +The color experience — peel-and-stick swatches on the actual wall, watched through the whole day
- +A genuinely soft eggshell that sits lower than most and never fights the color
- +Zero VOC with almost no smell, so a nursery is liveable the same evening
- +Forgiving for beginners, with honest two-coat hide mid-tone to mid-tone
- +A deck someone actually edited — the greiges do not go pink and the whites have intentional undertones
- +Holding color quietly in indirect light, and resisting mildew
What It's Not Good At
- −One sheen, take it or leave it: no flat for a moody bedroom, no satin for a wall that takes wear
- −Sixty colors that may not include yours — Clare cannot mix a Benjamin Moore or Sherwin-Williams shade
- −Whole-house math at $77 a gallon, with no 5-gallon size
- −High-traffic and high-moisture rooms, where it burnishes before a premium washable would
- −Deadlines — no store, no big-box pickup, no running out for one more quart on a Sunday
Honest Alternatives
Half again less per gallon, at every Home Depot, in matte, eggshell, satin, and semi-gloss so you actually get to pick a sheen. The trade is the color experience — back to chips under store light — and deep tones that do not read as rich as a premium paint.
Deeper color rendering, a full sheen range, and burnish resistance Clare's eggshell cannot match in a high-traffic room, plus the entire 3,400-color deck mixed at the store. Costs more and demands a trip to a dealer.
The closest cross-shop on model: another direct-to-consumer brand with a curated deck, peel-and-stick swatches, and low-VOC paint shipped to your door, plus cabinet, ceiling, and exterior lines Clare does not have. Its only wall sheen sits at 6 percent, below an eggshell.
Wall Paint Questions, Answered
What sheens does Clare wall paint come in?
Just one: eggshell. Clare calls it a barely-there sheen, and it sits low and soft on the wall. If you want a flatter matte for a moody bedroom or a higher sheen for a bathroom that takes steam, Clare does not make it in the wall line. The separate Trim Paint comes in a subtle semi-gloss for trim, doors, and cabinets.
Is Clare wall paint worth $77 a gallon?
For a one-or-two-room refresh where you want the color decided fast and delivered to your door, yes. The curated deck does the hardest part for you, and a zero-VOC eggshell lives quietly in a bedroom. For a whole-house repaint the per-gallon cost adds up against Benjamin Moore Regal Select or Behr Marquee, and you give up the in-store color match.
Does Clare wall paint need primer?
Often no. It is 100 percent acrylic and self-priming on a prepped wall going from one mid-tone to a similar mid-tone. Prime first when you are covering a dark color, a glossy surface, or stains and patches. Going light over dark without primer, the old color ghosts through for two or three coats.
Can I use Clare wall paint in a bathroom?
On the walls of a powder room or a well-ventilated bath, the eggshell holds up and the formula is mildew-resistant. In a small bathroom that takes daily shower steam with poor ventilation, step the splash zones up to Clare's semi-gloss Trim Paint or choose a true bath-spec paint. Eggshell on a wall that stays damp will struggle over time.
How many colors does Clare offer?
A tight, curated deck of around sixty colors, not the thousands you get from a fan deck at a paint store. That is the trade. The narrow selection is the whole point: someone already edited out the near-duplicates and the colors that read badly in real rooms. If you already know you want a specific BM or SW color, Clare cannot mix it.
Will Clare match a color from another brand?
No. There is no mixing counter and no custom match — you pick from Clare's world or you do not buy. That narrowness is a feature right up until your color is not in it. If you already love a Benjamin Moore HC tone or a Sherwin-Williams classic, buy it from a store that will match it for free.
How much does a gallon cover, and how many coats?
375 to 425 square feet a gallon, with two coats already factored into that number. Two coats is honest going mid-tone to mid-tone. Light over dark still wants a primer plus two, and you should measure before ordering because there is no 5-gallon size and no store fallback.
Where can you buy Clare paint?
Direct from Clare.com, which is really the only source — there is no big-box retail, and Amazon carries occasional third-party listings with limited colors and no swatch system. Free shipping starts at $200, so a multi-room order ships at no cost. Order the $3 peel-and-stick swatches first and live with them for a couple of days.
Is Clare safe to use in a nursery?
It is zero VOC and GREENGUARD Gold certified, with almost no smell on application, so a bedroom or nursery is liveable the same evening. That is one of the strongest practical arguments for the price, especially in an apartment or a room without much cross-ventilation.
Ask a Question
Mid-project with Wall Paint? Stuck between two cans?
Ask Jessica below — every question gets a real reply, usually within a day. Painted a room in Clare? Tell us the color, which way your windows face, and whether the swatch prepared you for how it reads on the wall.