*Disclosure: PR samples- I received these polishes free of charge in exchange for photography.*

Release: 28 August 2020

11 polishes

A collection inspired by video game Borderlands, in collaboration with Amy Dahl, Vanessa Shank, and Vanessa Soto

This is a pretty big collection, and I’m presenting it in mini-groupings by finish.

Make it Rain

Make it Rain is a neutral purple creme. I’m starting off with this polish for one specific reason: it’s one of those purples that shows up super differently between screens. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a beautiful color. And it’s got a FLAWLESS formula. It applies smoothly. It applies beautifully. It’s good in one coat and perfect in two. It requires no top coat to be glossy. But…it doesn’t like to display properly on different screens. So I’m describing it like this: it’s a medium purple shade that I want to say leans slightly warm…and then I decide no, it’s neutral…but maybe the teensiest bit warm?..?

Maybe don’t rely on my photos for this one’s color. Sorry 😢

2 coats + top coat

My usual trick for these shades is to take a photo on my phone, which tends to pull a better color for some reason beyond my comprehension. But somehow this one eluded even that trick. I’m including the photo here because I think it’s slightly better than my DSLR’s results above…but I’m still not terribly happy. Please look at other swatches too!

Wenches with Wrenches

Onto the shimmers! And colors my camera can capture!

Wenches with Wrenches features a bright orange base loaded with red/green shifting shimmer. The base color is very Halloween. The base is definitely jelly-esque, but it manages to be perfect in two coats! Sarah does some magic with shimmer formulas. There’s a cool contrast happening between the yellow-toned base and the red shimmer.

2 coats + top coat

Crunk Bunny

Crunk Bunny features a light-medium grey base with magenta/red/orange shifting shimmer. The shimmer in this one is really bright, brighter and stronger than I could capture. The resting state is more magenta as well, even though it’s showing up more red here for some reason. And it’s got a gorgeous formula…silky and flawless and a joy to work with.

3 coats + top coat

God Queen Tyreen…and Troy

God Queen Tyreen…and Troy features a black base packed with magenta/red/orange shifting shimmer. It looks just like the shimmer in Crunk Bunny (the grey above). And it’s got the same flawlessly smooth formula. It really feels like Crunk Bunny’s dark sister. Gorgeous gorgeous shade.

2 coats + top coat

Ice Queen

Ice Queen features a white base with blue/purple shifting shimmer. It’s official…Sarah makes the best light formulas out there. How does she consistently make such easy-to-use formulas for white/pastel shades?? Each coat glides on with minimal patching and streaking, so different from the usual mess I’d expect from almost anyone else. The blue/purple shimmer in this one is just the perfect icy, magical topping. Beautiful and elegant shade.

3 coats + top coat

Heart Still Beats

Heart Still Beats features a brownish-mauve base packed with blue/purple shifting shimmer. This is exactly the kind of shimmer polish I know and love from BKL–a slightly sheer but perfectly buildable formula with a unique base color, offset by a shocking glow. Another beauty!

2 coats + top coat

I Punch the Initiative

I Punch the Initiative features a saturated raspberry base with matching pink glow. This shade might be showing too red on some screens. It is a raspberry pink base for sure. This shade is intensely feminine but also intensely strong, with an opaque shimmer formula that almost covers in one coat.

2 coats + top coat

Hey Sugar

Hey Sugar features a deep maroon-ish raspberry base with INTENSE gold shimmer. And I mean INTENSE. The shimmer almost knocked me out the first time I applied this polish. There’s so much shimmer that streaking was a pretty big issue for me, and it’s the sole reason I opted for a second coat, because otherwise it is perfectly opaque in just one coat. But I added another to try to control the streaks. Unfortunately this had the effect of deepening the base color, eliminating any hint of raspberry pink/purple it had, and the base morphed into a almost rusty-red shade. Truthfully, I really love the way this polish looks in the bottle with the raspberry-esque base color, and if I could apply this polish in just one coat I’d love this polish a lot more. But unfortunately I can’t seem to do that without significant streaks, and the effect it has in two coats is a bit less charming in my eyes. It’s your call though.

2 coats + top coat

Bacon is for Sycophants

And we’re onto the final three polishes, the multichromes!

Bacon is for Sycophants is a pastel multichrome that shifts silver/green/blue. The overall look is very fresh and reminiscent of spring. It’s a delicate and beautiful look.

Two coats covers very well, but I freaked out and added a third just to eliminate the streaks. As best I could, anyhow.

2-3 coats + top coat

Butt Stallion 2.0

Butt Stallion 2.0…this polish is definitely one of the most unique ones I’ve ever seen. It’s a pastel multichrome, but it’s got different kinds of shimmer shifts embedded within for a bit of a mosaic look. The primary multichrome shift is a silvery-blue to purple to green, but within the silvery-blue resting state are some magenta/purple particles, and within the green shift are some silvery particles. It’s really a fascinating and complex shade.

Two coats gives a more delicate, sheerer look that shows some VNL if you like shades that do that. I opted for three for full opacity.

3 coats + top coat

Pink Pandacorn

Saved my favorite for last! Pink Pandacorn is officially described as a cross between The Star-Eater and The Asteri, two previous collection stand-outs, so how could this shade not be a stunner?? This polish is a pearlescent multichrome that shifts purple/pink/gold and a hint of green at the very extremes. Like Butt Stallion 2.0 above, it appears to have different pigments combined within, but the particles are much smaller so the overall look is smoother. In the resting state, it almost looks like there are micro blue particles floating between the dominant magenta shade, and the overall shift to a soft, peachy glow is just stunning.

3 coats + top coat

The Borderlands collaboration collection will be available on August 28 at noon Eastern for preorder, which will close on the night of the 31st at midnight EST.

Bee’s Knees Lacquer: http://www.beeskneeslacquer.com

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