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Hi friends! Today I am sharing the newest collection from Bee’s Knees Lacquer. I know, last month I said there wasn’t going to be a collection this month but apparently I was wrong! This collection is inspired by the book Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo which is the sequel to Ninth House which was the inspiration for some mystery bags the brand released previously.
While we don’t have any mystery bags this month we do have a 10 piece collection and much like last month, all of the polishes in this release are shimmers. The Hell Bent collection will be available for pre-order start on October 13 at 7PM Eastern time on the Bee’s Knees Lacquer website.
As always, more links and sale details can be found at the end of the post. If you would like to see these polishes in natural lighting, check out my live swatch video over on my YouTube channel!
Live Swatch Video
Bee’s Knees Lacquer is a US based indie brand. Their polishes are in 15ml bottles, 5 free, cruelty free and vegan friendly.
A Talent For Misfortune
Description: a grungy mauve with cerulean to purple shimmer
A Talent For Misfortune I feel like the dash of gray that makes this polish a “grungy” mauve. I am going to sound like a broken record for this blog post but this is a sheerer polish so you will need to build it up to get the most opacity.
The shimmer isn’t the most drastic color shift but it is a pretty one. You don’t get any brush strokes through it. I did notice quite a few pigment specks in this but the specks do not dry textured. The brand is aware of that issue so it shouldn’t be one for customer bottles.
My photos show A Talent For Misfortune in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Nothing in here will be difficult to remove and I didn’t have any issues with staining.
A Terrible Price
Description: a light olive green with glowy emerald to blue shimmer
A Terrible Price The shimmer was SHIMMER-ING in this polish! The glowiness has a slight metallic look to it. You don’t see any brush strokes though.
This had the perfect BKL shimmer polish finish that we have all come to know and love. The color shifts are super in your face but on the nail it looks like a green, teal to blue color shift.
Coverage was pretty fantastic, obviously not a one coater but very even and passable in two coats. I opted to add a third to deepen the base to match more of what I was seeing in the bottle.
My photos show A Terrible Price in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Once again, super easy removal and I didn’t experience any staining.
Give It Back Tenfold
Description: a smoky plum with strong indigo to purple shimmer
Give It Back Tenfold I am really digging the greyed out purples in this release! It feels like it adds a little something special to the polishes in this release.
As with the other shimmers, this one needs to be built up. I found this to be pretty sheer so outside of a VNL blurring base, you won’t be able to reach full opacity with this one. This is one of the sheerer polishes in the release.
I also noticed some pigment specks in this polish moreso than the others. Once again the brand is aware of this issue so it shouldn’t be a problem with customer bottles.
My photos show Give It Back Tenfold in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Super easy but messy removal and I didn’t have any issues with staining.
This reminded me of You Look Like You’ve Seen A Ghost from last year’s Radio Rental collection. The base colors between the two are different and the shimmer appears to be different as well.
His Gentle Ruler
Description: a berry polish with silver to green to blue shimmer
His Gentle Ruler is one of the two polishes in this release that seem to be not like other BKL shimmers. The shimmer is very metallic/frosty looking and I surprised myself by really liking it!
Despite me generally disliking metallic finishes, this polish didn’t have the brush stroke issue which is usually what gets me to dislike that type of finish. The shimmer is slightly larger in particle size but does give off any texture. You will still want top coat for a glossy finish though.
My photos show His Gentle Ruler in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal won’t be difficult for this polish but it will be messy.
His Monstrous Queen
Description: an icy lavender polish with pale gold to green shimmer
His Monstrous Queen I can’t recall the last time I swatched a polish like this from BKL so it was a happy addition to this release! Despite this having a lot of metallic vibes, you do not get any brush strokes through the finish.
Coverage, formula, and application were all fantastic. You will of course need to build it up to get the most opacity. I do think this is sheer enough that it has some potential to be used as a topper.
I was predominantly seeing the gold shimmer effect at extreme angles, I feel like I could see a hint of green but mainly I was seeing the pale gold.
My photos show His Monstrous Queen in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. This will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on personal preference.
Immutable
Description: a smoky eggplant with red to green microflake shimmer
Immutable there is something about red, gold to green shimmers and flakies that make me reminiscent of unicorn pee. This is not a unicorn pee polish but the color shifts are similar.
The base color on this polish reminds me more of a raisin red than an eggplant. Which I think is due to the microflake shimmer?
Predominantly on the nail, you will see the red to gold color shifts, green comes in at extreme angles. The microflakes do not dry down textured but you will want top coat for a glossy finish.
My photos show Immutable in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. I think this will likely be a three coater to get even coverage, in two coats it was a little patchy. Removal will be fairly easy but a little bit messy.
I Went To Hell For You
Description: an olive green base with extra sparkly orange to green shimmer
I Went To Hell For You oh how I love an olive green base! The based paired with the shimmer in this polish are an A+++ combination! The shimmer pulls very red to orange, so I found this made my hands look kinda red.
This will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on personal preference. I added a third coat for my swatches to deepen the base color, coverage is even and bit sheerer in two but passable.
My photos show I Went To Hell For You in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Once again, super easy removal but a little messy due to the shimmer. No issues with staining.
I Have Been Crying Out To You From The Start
Description: a squishy shamrock green with glowy blue shimmer
I Have Been Crying Out To You From The Start was the only polish from this release that I just flat out didn’t like. It was just a little bit too sheer for me.
The formula itself is pretty good and since it is so sheer you really do need to build it up to get the base to really show up. I found once I built the base up, it seemed a little bit uneven for me. Some areas on my nail seemed greener than others.
The shimmer is really pretty but it wasn’t enough to get me to be able to love the polish on its own.
My photos show I Have Been Crying Out To You From The Start in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal will be super easy just a little bit messy.
Let’s Give Them Hell
Description: a red clay with silver to green to blue shimmer
Let’s Give Them Hell ugh the shimmer in this polish is so gorgeous and it did NOT want to cooperate with me. My lighting washed the shimmer out slightly, I would highly recommend checking out my swatch video for this one to better see the shimmer colors!
Much like the others in this release, this is a fairly sheer polish that needs to be built up. I like the coverage most in three coats. Also like the others in this release, the formula was fantastic.
My photos show Let’s Give Them Hell in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Super easy removal and I had no issues with staining.
Reckless
Description: a grayed out navy with strong red to gold shimmer
Reckless had a fantastic formula. While this was a slightly more opaque polish, it is still a sheer one that needs to be built up. The shimmer looks more pink to gold and the base looks more greyed out purple than greyed out navy.
While sheer, the coverage was still even so if you don’t mind super obvious VNL it is passable in two coats. I opted to swatch it in three coats though.
My photos show Reckless in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. I didn’t experience any issues with staining and removal will be pretty easy.
Final Thoughts
Overall we have another great release from BKL. While I do wish there were more variety of finishes and maybe not so many purples in the release, I can’t complain about the formulas.
I do believe the two metallics are a new-to-the-brand formulation so I look forward to see what other colors Sarah comes up with in that style.
My top picks are going to be I went To Hell For You, His Gentle Ruler and Let’s Give Them Hell.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer
15ml, 5+ Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
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Sale Information
The Hell Bent collection will be available for pre-order starting on October 13th at 7PM Eastern time on BeesKneesLacquer.com. The pre-order window will close on October 22nd at 11:59PM Eastern time.
Each polish is priced at $14 USD for 15ml bottles. There is a soft cap of 1000 bottles per polish, if any of the polishes sell out. A new 3-4 week pre-order window will take place. There will be a listing featuring all 10 polishes with a discounted pricing of $135. The polishes in that listing will be ready to ship and has a cap of 100 sets.
There will be a limit of 1 polish per color per person until 10/15 at 11:59pm. After that time, people can go back and purchase as many backups as they please.
If you are looking for information on overpours from last month’s collection, Fourth Wing, those will be available during the brand’s Black Friday sale next month. More information will be available closer to the sale period.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer ships internationally from the US. They also have a few different stockist pages for folks outside of the US. Girly Bits Cosmetics (Canada), Hypnotic Polish (EU/UK), Femme Fatale (Australia), and Rainbow Connection (EU/UK).
