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Hi friends! Happy New Year!! Is anyone else in shock that we are in 2024 already?? Last year went by SO quickly it’s not even funny. I am really looking forward to this new year. I have a ton of ideas for some new content (hint: remember that new blog I mentioned??) so stay tuned!!
Anyways, today’s blog post is for the newest collection from Bee’s Knees Lacquer. For January 2024 we have the Throne of the Fallen collection which is inspired by the book Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco. This collection will launch on January 19th on the Bee’s Knees Lacquer website as well as their stockist pages. I will have all of that information at the end of the post.
Thank you very much to Bee’s Knees Lacquer for sponsoring today’s post. If you would like to see these polishes in natural lighting, be sure to check out my live swatch video!
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.
Chaos
Description: somewhere between mustard and olive, so molive, with emerald green shimmer and holo flakes
Chaos hot diggity dog, I love this prugly color! I agree with the brand, it is somewhere between being a mustard yellow and an olive green. The base is jelly-like so you will need to build it up to get opacity going.
The shimmer in Chaos is a little bit more impressive than the official description would make you think. You mainly get the bright green on the nail but a dash of blue comes in at extreme angles. The holographic flakies are fairly tiny but give off some nice rainbows without any texture.
My photos show Chaos in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. I will call this a 2-3 coater depending on application style and personal preference. Removal will be fairly easy but messy. I didn’t experience any staining upon removal.
Discord
Description: a black polish with silver to blue to green shimmer
Discord on the nail this polish, to me at least, looks like a very very dark blue that would appear black in most lighting. I think the blue color shift to the shimmer is what causes the base to look so blue toned.
This is another polish that starts off very sheer and needs to be built up. Coverage is pretty decent after two coats so this will be another 2-3 coater depending on personal preference.
While I do think that the shimmer makes this polish appear very blue toned, in person I was mainly seeing a silver to green color shift. I think if I went into swatching this polish thinking it was a black base with silver, blue to green shimmer I might have been able to pick out that color shift more, maybe?
My photos show Discord in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Nothing in here dries down textured and removal will be very easy. I didn’t experience any staining with it.
Fair Winter Lady
Description: an icy pastel multichrome that shifts from red to green with sparkles of cobalt and silver light reflective glitter
Fair Winter Lady is the first of three pastel multichromes in this collection. If I hadn’t read the brand’s description of this polish, I would have called this one a pale white shimmer.
This polish didn’t have that wet sand like application that some reflective glitter polishes have. The reflecitve glitters do give this polish some texture so you’ll want to double up on top coat to smooth everything out.
The base was a little bit thicker but by no means overly thick to me. Fair Winter Lady is a fairly sheer polish so even after 3 coats you won’t reach full opacity with it.
Admittedly I wasn’t really a fan of this polish indoors. I feel like it really came to life in natural lighting. The reflective glitter is so sparkly!!
My photos show Fair Winter Lady in 2 coats plus 2 coats glossy top coat. I wouldn’t recommend scrubbing this polish off, use the soak off method or a peel off base coat.
Game Playing Deviant
Description: a deep midnight blue with glowy blue shimmer and holo flakes
Game Playing Deviant there is something about a jewel-toned blue that just does something to my heart. I fall in love every single time!
This polish has a wonderful formula, it’s another 2-3 coater depending on personal preference. Coverage was pretty great in two coats but it didn’t quite have the same depth of color that I was seeing in the bottle.
I thought for sure this polish was going to be a stainer as well as a bleeder once I added my top coat. I didn’t notice any bleeding once I added top coat nor did I experience any staining.
My photos show Game Playing Deviant in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. The flakies in here will not give off any texture but you will still want to add top coat for a glossy finish. Nothing will be overly difficult to remove but I would still recommend the soak off method.
This polish reminded me of BKL’s We Dissent from the Fandom Flakies in August 2022. The base colors are similar but We Dissent has 2 different types of flakies.
God of Idiocy
Description: a deep reddish brown with emerald to green shimmer and holo flakes
God of Idiocy um wow?? I wasn’t sure what to expect with this polish based on the bottle alone but on the nail it looks amazing! This is one of those polishes where it will look drastically different from the first coat to building it up in three coats. In three coats it’s almost so dark that it appears to be black.
The formula and application were both fantastic. I really like the dark reddish base. It does seem to be a little bit on the warmer side but the shimmer cools it down slightly.
I really liked being able to see the reddish brown base in two coats however, I had a few light spots so I opted to add a third coat. I’ll call this a 2-3 coater depending on personal preference.
The shimmer in this polish is mainly green but I was able to see a blue color shift at extreme angles. The flakies are super holographic and look amazing in the sun.
My photos show God Of Idiocy in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Nothing in here will dry down textured but you will still want top coat for a glossy finish. Removal will be pretty messy if you opt to scrub this one off.
Outplayed
Description: an emerald to blue multichrome with a sky blue magnetic shimmer. Unmagnetized, it’s a beautiful soft blue with shifts to green and purple.
Outplayed as someone who isn’t the biggest magnetic polish fan, I was pretty intrigued by how this one looks in the bottle. On the first coat, this is super sheer so you will need to build it up to get the most opacity. You do lose some of the opacity when magnetizing it, so if you magnetize each layer you might have some VNL with it in three coats.
For my swatches, I used a ring magnet and magnetized on the third coat. I was able to reach full opacity with two coats unmagnetized. I held the magnet over my nail for a full 60 seconds. I did notice that my lines spread out a little bit so I think if you want super crisp lines you’ll need to hold the magnet longer as well as after you top coat.
I really liked the purple color shift that this polish as. Magnetized, the purple comes across as more jewel toned than how it shows without magnetizing the polish. I think I like this one more unmagnetized.
My photos show Outplayed in 2 coats unmagnetized and 3 coats magnetized. Nothing in here will be difficult to remove and I didn’t have any issues with staining.
Prince of Envy
Description: a deep olive green base with a rich emerald shimmer and holo flakes
Prince of Envy is one of the polishes in this release that I was most looking forward to swatching! I love this shade of green! I feel like shade-wise it’s between being a spring green and a wintery green. It’s not quite as dark as I think of “deep olive”.
It had that perfect BKL shimmer + holo flakies formulation. On the first coat it looks a little bit uneven but builds up nicely in 2-3 coats. If you don’t mind not getting the exact color in the bottle coverage is passable in two coats.
The holographic flakies give a ton of rainbow goodness without any true texture. If you’re looking for a St Patrick’s Day green this would be right up your alley.
My photos show Prince of Envy in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal won’t be the most difficult thing ever but I would still recommend the soak off method. No issues with staining.
Princess of Starlight
Description: a white multichrome that shifts from silver to blue to green. *note* this is an aurora based polish so it might appear to have a yellow tinge in the bottle
Princess of Starlight to my eye this polish gives off pearlescent vibes. I wouldn’t have known to call it a pastel multichrome if not for the official description.
Formula wise, this was also pretty great. A little bit thicker than I was expecting but by no means overly thick. Once again, this polish starts off very sheer so you can wear it either in one coat as a topper or build it up for the most opacity. On its own, I was mainly seeing the silver to green color shift. For my live swatch video, I did show it in one coat over a few colors and could see the blue in the shimmer that way.
I’ll be honest, I am not the biggest fan of this polish. I don’t care for pearlized finishes and even though this doesn’t show brush strokes like most pearl finished polishes I just wasn’t really vibing with it.
My photos show Princess of Starlight in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. I did have some VNL with this polish so if you want to cover up your nail line, you’ll want to go in for an extra coat.
Same Lie Lilac
Description: a pale blue pastel multichrome that shifts from green to blue with sparkles of orange and silver light reflective glitter
Same Lie Lilac is an icy blue, it makes me think of like a princess blue. Much like the other pastel multichromes in this collection, it has a very pearl/metallic look to it.
I was kinda meh about this polish up until I saw it in natural lighting. Just WOW! I would have sworn there was a dash of holographic in here. You get a ton of sparkle in direct sunlight.
Both formula and application were fantastic. Slightly thicker formula due to the glitters but it doesn’t have that wet sand feel to it that some reflective glitter polishes have.
You do get some texture from the reflective glitter but much less than I typically find for reflective glitter. I would still recommend at least 2 coats of top coat to smooth everything out.
My photos show Same Lie Lilac in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. I would highly recommend the soak off method for removal of this polish.
Final Thoughts
I am pretty damn happy that BKL is finally back to releasing collections with a variety of finishes! I love the variety and don’t have the deja vu feeling that I was getting with some of the more shimmer only releases. I was scrolling through my BKL swatch archive and had a hard time trying to pick out shades to pull out for comparisons.
I do think the color story is very moody and a little dark but the colors do all go together nicely. Looking at my collage, I’m honestly shocked by the lack of purple!
All in all, this was a beautiful release and I am thinking about reading the book that inspired it. My top picks are Chaos, Prince of Envy, God of Idiocy and Game Playing Deviant.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer
15ml, 5+ Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
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Sale Information
The Throne of The Fallen collection launches January 19th on the Bee’s Knees Lacquer website. Each polish is priced between $14-14.50 USD. If you add all 9 polishes to your cart, you will get a 15% off discount.
At the time of posting, I do not have any information on possible respawns or caps on items. I will update this post as I get more information!
Bee’s Knees Lacquer ships internationally from the US. They also have a few different stockist pages. This collection will also be available for pre-order as well as their intentional stockist pages, Gracie Jay and Co (Canada), Hypnotic Polish (EU), Femme Fatale (Australia), and Rainbow Connection (EU).
