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Hey friends! Today’s blog post is for the final collection by Bee’s Knees Lacquer. For their farewell release, we have The Kingdom Of The Wicked collection which is inspired by the book series of the same name.
This is a 14 piece collection that is available right now. Bee’s Knees is also running a 25% off sitewide sale that this release is part of. As always, links and sale details can be found at the end of the post.
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.
An Act Of Love
Description: a Lion cousin, this is a pale indigo polish with extra sparkly green to blue shimmer and holo flakes
Price: $13.50
An Act Of Love had a fantastic but more sheer formula. The shimmer in here is super duper strong and looks amazing. This is one of those shimmers where you get a lot of the opacity and coloring from the shimmer.
The flakies were super holographic and will look even better out in natural lighting. They do not dry textured but of course, will make for a messy removal.
This is one of those polishes where the base color alone does nothing for me but paired with the shimmer and flakies I freaking love it!
My photos show An Act Of Love in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
As Above So Below
Description: a Lion cousin, a deep violet polish with extra sparkly blue shimmer and holo flakes
Price: $13.50 *may stain
As Above So Below has a beautiful formula. This one does bleed a little bit once you add top coat. So the shimmer doesn’t pull quite as strongly as it did before top coat.
Personally, I like how it looks this way but you can pair this with a water based top coat before your quick dry top coat to minimize the bleeding.
The base color was really beautiful and very vibrant. The blue shimmer makes this one lean bluer than violet in my opinion.
My photos show As Above So Below in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. I did have some staining with this polish so be sure to double up on your base coat.
Choice Is Powerful
Description: a white based polish with gold to green to blue shimmer and a slight holo effect
Price: $13.50
Choice Is Powerful had a beautiful formula. It is pretty sheer so you will want to build it up for the most opacity. Coverage is even enough that you can use this one as as topper.
The shimmer in here was really strong and slightly larger in particle size so you won’t get any brush strokes with it. It gives the polish a soft ghostly/ethereal kinda vibe. I was seeing a gold, green to blue color shift.
I wasn’t seeing the holographic effect with this one. I did swatch it at night so the only holographic friendly lighting I have is what I have here in my nail room. I would wager your best bet at seeing the holo would be natural lighting.
My photos show Choice Is Powerful in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal will of course be easy if not a little messy from the shimmer.
House Vengeance
Description: a Lion cousin, this is a burgundy polish with extra sparkly green to blue shimmer and holo flakes
Price: $13.50 *may stain
House Vengeance had a fantastic formula. The brand does warn that this one may cause some staining. I doubled up on my base coat (Heather’s Hues 1st Base), used the soak off method, and didn’t experience any staining.
I was kinda iffy on this one in the bottle, I found that one I got it on my nails, and I really liked how the shimmer looked with the base color. This is definitely a color that I wouldn’t have picked out of myself but ended up loving on my nails.
My photos show House Vengeance in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. As with the other Lion cousins, nothing dries textured in here and removal will be fairly easy.
I Believe I’m Powerful Therefore I Am
Description: a blackened green with red to green ghost flakes and black light reflective glitter
Price: $14
I Believe I’m Powerful Therefore I Am had a good but thicker formula. It was also pretty sheer so you will want t build this one up. In 3 coats, you will still have some VNL but the flakies and glitters do distract the eyes from it.
Since this polish has light reflective glitter, it does dry down with some texture. I opted to pair it with a glitter smoothing top coat (KBShimmer’s Smooth Moves) before my quick dry top coat. I tend to find with black LRG that my eyes don’t really see black reflections, I just see silver reflects with black glitters.
I surprised myself by liking the base color of this polish. Paired with the flakies I thought it was really pretty. I also liked how the glitters gave this a nice sparkle.
My photos show I Believe I’m Powerful Therefore I Am in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. Removal will be on the more difficult side, soak off method or a peel off base coat would be my recommendation.
It’s A F*cking Promise
Description: a wine purple with extra sparkly green to blue shimmer
Price: $13
It’s A F*cking Promise had a beautiful jelly formula. This one stays pretty sheer so you’re gonna wanna build it up to get the most opacity. The shimmer is fairly sparkly so you do not get any brushstrokes with it and I was able to see both colors as described.
I’ll be honest, I feel like this one is reminding me of several previous BKL polishes so I didn’t really love this one cause I feel like I’ve seen it before but I will say it is still very pretty.
My photo show It’s A F*cking Promise in 3 coats plus a glossy top coat. I thought this one was going to be a stainer so I did double up on my base coat but I didn’t have any staining with it.
Liar
Description: a Lion cousin, this is a grape polish with extra sparkly green to blue shimmer and holo flakes
Price: $13.50
Liar had a fantastic formula that starts off a little sheer but builds up nicely. The shimmer effect was very strong and paired nicely with the base color. I would say the base color is a lighter purple, almost lilac.
The holo flakies all spread out very evenly without giving off any texture. Despite it being fairly overcast the day I was swatching this, it was very holographic in natural light as well as indoors.
My photos show Liar in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal and cleanup will, of course, be on the messy side due to the sparkly shimmer and the hollow flaky but it won’t be difficult at all
Love Is The Most Powerful Magic
Description: a soft, sheer purple with ultra glowy blue to purple shimmer
Price: $13
Love Is The Most Powerful Magic had a beautiful sheer jelly formula. Even in 3 coats, you will still have very obvious VNL with it. You do get some of the purple base showing on the nail but the shimmer is largely the colors you see. Again, this is sheer enough that it will look really great as a topper as well.
The shimmer is very strong and glowy. You don’t get any brush strokes with it. In the bottle, this reminded me a lot of Doomicorn but the base color is more of a cool, powdery soft purple shade than the warmer Doomicorn.
My photos show Love Is The Most Powerful Magic in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
Monsters Could Be Created But Never Tamed
Description: a Lion cousin, this is a smoky mauve polish with extra blue shimmer and holo flakes
Price: $13.50
Monsters Could Be Created But Never Tamed had a fantastic formula. It does start off a little sheer but it builds up to reach full opacity.
Colorwise, I don’t love the base color but paired with the shimmer, I thought it was pretty. The flakies were very holographic even in my nighttime indoor lighting.
I know I sound like a broken record but the shimmer was stong and glowy without showing any brush strokes. It’s strong enough that I feel like the smokeyness of the base almost gets lost by how strong the shimmer is.
My photos show Monsters Could Be Created But Never Tamed in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Depending on the thickness of coats, this will be a 2-3 coater. I found in 2 coats during my live swatch, it was a lot sheerer than it was when I was doing my full hand photos.
Tell Me I’m Your Favorite Sin
Description: a blackened indigo with extra sparkly red to green shimmer
Price: $13
Tell Me I’m Your Favorite Sin had a really great formula, but it starts off and stays fairly sheer. At first in the bottle, I thought this one was black, but as I got it on the nail, I realize it was more of like a very, very dark indigo.
The shimmer in here was super strong and super sparkly since it is a larger particle size. It does not show any brushstrokes. I get pretty good coverage with this one in 2 coats but I did have some VNL at certain angles. Three coats will get you full opacity but if your nails are shorter, you should be good in two coats.
My photos show Tell Me I’m Your Favorite Sinin
The Crone
Description: a Lion cousin, this is a soft lavender polish with extra sparkly blue shimmer and holo flakes
Price: $13.50
The Crone had a beautiful formula but it was very sheer and jelly like, so you will want to build it up for the most opacity. It is also sheer enough that I think it will work really well as a topper.
The blue shimmer is super sparkly and strong. It almost over powers the lavender base.
The holographic flakies in here are very holographic. Between the sparkle of the shimmer and the holographic, those elements do distract from your VNL quite a bit. Personally, I really liked how sheer this one was in 2 coats but i did add a third for my photos.
My photos show The Crone in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
There’s a Little Matter Of Murder To Attend To
Description: a Lion cousin, this is a turquoise polish with extra sparkly green to blue shimmer and holo flakes
Price: $13.50
There’s a Little Matter Of Murder To Attend To also had a fantastic formula. This polish was a bit more opaque than some of the other Lion cousin polishes. Coverage is even and passable in 2 coats however if you dislike VNL, you will still want to go in for 3 coats.
The base color on this polish is so bright and fun! I loved how the shimmer paired with the base color on this polish. I cannot stress enough that this polish is SO ridiculiusly beautiful. The holo flakies were of course, super holo and sparkly.
My photos show There’s a Little Matter Of Murder To Attend To in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
We Are The Feared
Description: a deep maroon with red to green ghost flakes and emerald light reflective glitter
Price: $14
We Are The Feared had a good but thicker formula. Despite the thickness, I found it easy to apply in thin coats. This polish doesn’t have the ‘wet sand’ constitency that some reflective polishes have but you will get bald spots if you overwork it.
This polish is in a jelly base so you will want to build it up to get the most opacity. However, even in 3 coats, you will still have obvious VNL.
The reflective glitter was super sparkly and looks a little Christmas-y paired with the red base. I was able to see the green reflects in person. And of course, this polish dries textured so doubling up on your top coat will be a must for a smooth finish.
My photos show We Are The Feared in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. Don’t even think about scrubbing this polish off. The soak off method is made for polishes like this
You’re Impossibly Blasphemous
Description: a Lion cousin, this is a black polish with extra sparkly blue shimmer and holo flakes
Price: $13.50
You’re Impossibly Blasphemous had a beautiful formula. It was a little bit on the sheer side so you will want to build it up to cover up VNL.
The shimmer in this polish was very strong and didn’t show any brush strokes. The flakies give this a beautiful holographic effect without giving any texture.
This polish is likely going to be 2-3 coater depending on how you feel about VNL. I found that I had some VNL at certain angles but at most this polish was opaque on me in 2 coats.
My photos show You’re Impossibly Blasphemous in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
Final Thoughts
I thought as a whole, the collection was fantastic. I don’t think the color story screams cohesive, there were a lot of purples, but from what I understand this was a ‘these are my favorites’ relese by the brand’s owner to say goodbye. As per usual, I appreciated the variety of finishes.
I surprised myself by really liking the Lion cousons. After last month’s colelction with nothing by Lion sibling polishes, I was feeling like we got too much of a good thing bit I didn’t get that feeling at all with the cousins.
My top pick from this release without a shadow of a doubt was There’s a Little Matter Of Murder To Attend To. I am very tempted to grab a backup for it.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer
15ml, 5+ Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
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Sale Information
The Kingdom of The Wicked collection is available right now on the Bee’s Knees Lacquer website as a pre-order. BKL is having a 25% off sitewide sale as a Black Friday special. The sale ends on December 1st at 7PM so make sure to head on over ASAP.
Along with this release, Bee’s Knees released 2 polishes that are exclusive to the Femme Fatale website. My review for those 2 polishes is up over here Femme Fatale is an Austrailian brand/stockist page.
