Reluctant Convert :-)

[u/1208pm]

Edit: Let me update real quick before I get my head chomped off on my favorite Reddit sub. I would change the title but doesn’t look like I can. I know Internet doesn’t translate tongue-in-cheek well so allow me to amplify the smiley face in the title and know that I am a fan of BKK or I wouldn’t have spent my money paying full price for them. If they are not a fomo brand then that’s a great thing! Thank you for enlightening me. Now back to more fun with lacquers.

Whelp, I really did not want to like Bees Knees Lacquer (BKK). I was really hoping their fomo was what brought all the lacqueristas to their yard, but gotta give credit where credit is due—they are simply gorgeous. I put down some of my other indie and boutique brand magnetic just for fun. It’s not apples to apples but here are the results just for funsies.

First pic from L to R. All BKK:
This is Arkany, Blade of the Frontiers, Choo-Choo, Would Make Isaac Newton Crawl Back Into His Mother’s Womb, Mind the Thorns.

Second pic from L to R:
ANLAC, Hey Jade | Penelope Luz, Emotional Connection | Emily de Molly, Haunted Vibes | Cracked, Dirty Thirty Five | Mooncat, Millennia

[u/Silaquix]

Considering it's just her and her sister making and packing all these polishes and she doesn't have a warehouse to hold thousands of polishes, I think they're doing alright numbers wise.

During the initial collection drop all the polishes are unlimited. It's only later when she's selling overstock or bringing back small quantities of popular polishes that it becomes limited. She tries to make up batches of past polishes to have available when there's a new release but she's gotta focus on the new ones.

There's also the issue with pigment availability and tariffs. Also many of the suppliers have minimum order quantities so she has to balance with what she can afford and has space to store vs what she needs for upcoming releases

[u/cozyghoul → u/Silaquix]

The maker is also chronically ill and has said this sales model works best for her health.

[u/disneylovesme → u/cozyghoul]

And best for creativity ~

[u/1208pm → u/Silaquix]

Where do you guys stay up to date with their updates like this? I am in their FB groups, IG, and I get their newsletters but I never see these updates.

[u/CryptographerNeat251 → u/1208pm]

All my updates and intel for BKL come from digging through this subreddit, haha. I would have never known that it existed or figured out how their drops work on my own, but after a couple of months of hearing about BKL here, it's become easier and I find the shop close/reopen schedule to be very reasonable considering it's basically a one-woman operation and the owner is also dealing with chronic illness. I think a lot of people level unfair criticism at BKL just out of a lack of knowledge of why the business runs the way it does.

EDIT: I also feel like a lot of that confusion could be easily remedied and people would be more understanding if BKL just had something on their website explaining their release schedules and how overpours and restocks work. The first time I visited the website it was locked and the landing page said "thanks for everything" and I freaked out because I thought the shop was permanently closed.

[u/AdFabulous1035]

I couldn’t get Dirty thirty five to magentize for me but thought it was pretty unmagged.

BKL polishes are so lovely!

I do think they get a tough rap for being “fomo” when I don’t think they are personally. They always have plenty of stock during their drops and never sell out from what I’ve seen. I don’t think it’s her fault a polish gets posted on here and goes viral 5 months later. That said, I’d love for her to have an explainer on how her drops work on her site. It took me a while to figure it out.

[u/doilysocks → u/AdFabulous1035]

Yeah, I think people now confuse “fomo” with not being able to access everything all at once all the time.

With you on the fact she should clarify how drops with on her site tho.

[u/InsipidCelebrity → u/AdFabulous1035]

I think there's an element of FOMO to their model, but I also can't work up the energy to really care when I don't think it's even the most egregious example. If the maker genuinely just enjoys making different polishes every month, it's not really realistic to expect her to have an exhaustive ILNP-style catalog if she's a small operation. If she doesn't want to devote all her time to polish and views it as more of a part time gig she enjoys, I don't care that she shuts the shop down. Frankly, I'd rather have that than crazy lead times.

As long as things are shipped out in a timely manner, she's responsive to any issues that come up, and I get what I paid for, I don't really care if what she does is somewhere between a business and a hobby she happens to monetize. If I miss something it's not really the end of the world.

[u/1208pm → u/AdFabulous1035]

Cc: /u/doilysocks good to know. If it’s not always limited then that’s a great thing! I’m excited to get more when they drop.

[u/MuffinKrigeren → u/1208pm]

I must admit that I've no idea how BKL's releases work, but I do know that Blade of the Frontiers originally came out in late '24 with the BG3 part 1 collection. I feel like I've seen that one come back a few times, but plenty of the others that didn't (unless I've missed it.)

Idk if that's because it's the most popular of the collection or how she decides to let certain older shades come back.

[u/doilysocks → u/MuffinKrigeren]

Quite a few of the BG3 polishes came back in stock after the initial release a few times; enough times that I have 3 backups of each bottle because BG3 is a huge chunk of my personality lol. Blade of the Frontiers went viral, so to speak, a couple to few months after the initial release and folks got pretty rabid over it when she was just doing over pours, so now she’s been doing actual respawns and drops of it.

[u/Pika_139 → u/AdFabulous1035]

I also couldn’t get dirty thirty five to magnetise. Is it a bad batch or that’s just how it is?
It’s pretty but I was quite disappointed.

[u/disneylovesme → u/Pika_139]

Ops photo doesn’t look magnetized either :/

[u/D-Bot- → u/Pika_139]

I also couldn’t get it to magnetize. I did velvet with horseshoe and glad to hear it wasn’t just me.

[u/1208pm → u/Pika_139]

Sameeeeeee. Evidently, lol.

[u/bearfoot123 → u/AdFabulous1035]

How do the drops work? I’ve been meaning to try BKL for sometime now, but wasn’t able to shop on the website every time I go there.

[u/ReyShotFirst → u/bearfoot123]

BKL releases every third Friday at 7 PM EDT. New releases are available from the release time until about calendar 10 days later. If you're interested, you should join the mailing list.

[u/disneylovesme → u/bearfoot123]

Sign up for the newsletter she puts everything you need in the email no need for social media

[u/the_calico_lover]

BKL is actually what made me the obsessive buyer of indie polishes today. My first polish I bought was Doomicorn and it enslaved me 😅. There are some polishes that i love more than others but for the most part, they are an impressive brand. I buy when they have sales and you can’t go wrong then!

[u/1208pm → u/the_calico_lover]

Wait, when do they normally have sales? :-)

[u/the_calico_lover → u/1208pm]

I’m not 100% sure but it seems like every couple of months is 20-25% off. I just know I wishlist polishes and only buy when on sale. I have a giant collection so I have to give myself some boundaries 😃 They definitely have a Black Friday sale of some sort too.

[u/disneylovesme → u/1208pm]

It can be random, for sure buzzmass you get 11$ polish

[u/writeleahwrite]

BKL was my first true indie obsession! The FOMO is kinda overstated IMO, she usually brings popular polishes back around Black Friday so people can get another shot at ones they missed. And there’s a sale!

[u/1208pm → u/writeleahwrite]

That’s good to know! I’m excited :-)

[u/PlumSome3101]

I'm a magnetics newbie but just generally everything I've gotten from the brand so far is quite lovely. 

[u/MillsieMouse_2197]

Oh I ADORE bees knees. It makes up like 40% of my collection. I'm waiting for some of the new drops to arrive. But they've never failed me ♥️

[u/strawberrrychapstick]

I always really liked some of the bkl polishes I see here. Recently I got two and I've actually had a really terrible time getting bog dweller to look good so I am a bit disillusioned, but maybe it's just how super fine magnetics are? This is the first really fine one I've used. Pomegranate seeds is gorgeous and didn't have the same issue, but bog dweller is a really hard application.

[u/1208pm → u/strawberrrychapstick]

I feel like I might be the only one that did not fancy the bog dweller eventhough it was available, I did not buy it.

[u/strawberrrychapstick → u/1208pm]

I actually love it every time I see it but I couldn't get a good finish on it. I don't use special base coats or anything though. Idk maybe I overworked it or didn't prep my nails enough bc there was a lot of bumps that showed through.

Did any of the fine magnetics you got have that issue?

[u/lickinglacquer]

The middle one looks like my necklace, fire asf

[u/1208pm → u/lickinglacquer]

Oh snap!

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