Bare Escentuals • Onyx • Eyeliner

Where To Buy?

starzi on 5/14/2012 2:46:00 PM more reviews by starzi

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Olive   Hair: Black, Straight   Eyes: Black    

Beautiful intense black by Bare Minerals. Love it! If you want a really strong solid black then using your finger would be the best i reckon. But i usually use the prime time primer underneath then sweep the black on top. Don't have much problem with it being a loose powder, because if you dip you brush in the powder then tap off all the excess, only small amounts will fall onto your face. I dust a bit of loose powder under my eyes to catch all of this, then just sweep it off when I'm done. Blends really well, great for a dramatic smokey eye for a night out. Its also fantastic to use with their other eyeshadows if you want to darken the colour. Just add a tiny bit of the black with the other colour and mix :) definitely would buy this again as its the most intense black I've seen so far. Its slightly cheapet on feelunique.com and they offer free delivery! :)

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*TOP REVIEWER* CarlaN on 12/12/2011 11:30:00 AM more reviews by CarlaN

Age: 44-55   Skin: Very Oily, Fair, Cool   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Green    

I give Onyx a four instead of a five *only* because of its high mess potential.

Onyx is a richly pigmented intense matte black loose powder. In spite of the fact that its little screw-top container features a sifter lid, little pieces of coal black powder can fly out, and cause some problems if you're not careful.

That's the bad news. The good/great news is that Onyx seems to be a pretty wonderful eyeliner. I turn the jar lid upside down, shake out a tiny amount of Onyx into it, squeeze out a drop of Kryolan cake eyeliner sealer beside the powder, dampen my brush, and make a thin "paste" with the liner + sealer. As I swirl my brush in the mixture, the paste quickly becomes the consistency of a densely-pigmented ink, ideal for drawing a thin, thin line (I like to use the MAC 210 liner brush) right along and into your lashline. I'd been happily using cake eyeliners lately, but they didn't always yield the coverage/intensity I crave. If this shadow liner proves to be long-wearing, and if I can learn how to master the mess, this may well turn out to be my HG eyeliner.

Next, I want to find an eggplant color; Legit looks pretty promising.
At $13 for a generously-sized jar, the price won't make me hesitate to try more colors.
UPDATE: I've hit on what I *think* is an at least partial solution to the mess issue: I "pre-mix" a small amount of liner/shadow powder + sealer in a 5-gram screw-top sample jar (readily found on sites like jlynne.com, and even on eBay); the mixture will stay moist and usable for at least a day or two. This way, you can prepare your liner ahead of time, and if you make a mess you won't make yourself late, cleaning it up, and you won't get coal-black powder all over yourself when you're about to head out the door. If this proves to not work well, I'll update.

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susancrazymoco on 8/9/2010 2:40:00 PM more reviews by susancrazymoco

Age: 19-24   Skin: Dry, Medium, Cool   Hair: Black, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

This is by far one of the best eyeliners I have, I never thought of buying a mineral loose powder eyeliner because it gets messy. I used to have only liquid and pencil eyeliners, but since I have oily lids i had to try everything. Any eyeliner that i wear smudges, the only way it wouldnt crease is if i use a concealer or primer. But when i tried this I was impressed how long it lasted and the color is highly pigmented and realllly dark. You have to buy the liner sealer solution to mix it with and apply it wet otherwise it wont last all day and it will smudge, you are not supposed to apply it dry. Anyway I didnt like the fact that it takes a little longer to apply instead of a liquid eyeliner, but if it lasts all day and doesn't crease it's worth it.

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*TOP REVIEWER* kathrynb23 on 7/23/2010 7:46:00 PM more reviews by kathrynb23

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Medium, Neutral   Hair: Black, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

I love this eyeliner! It is really easy to use, soo pigmented! It can give such nice define lines, or the nice untidy smudged/smokey look depending on how you use it.
It is extremely durable, no need for touch up throughout the day, and much more easy to remove then your normal pencil or gel liner.
Application can get messy because it is a powder, but as long as you shake of all the excess powder at the end of the brush, you should be fine!

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filicious on 4/17/2010 12:31:00 AM more reviews by filicious

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

I cant believe how little people have commented on this product. I LOVE THIS. i have very oily eyelid so if i use eyeliners (i mean every brand u can imaging) so the SA recommended me while i was buying my BE minerals foundation. she tried it on me, and i think it looks pretty good so i bought the whole set, the minerals, brush and Weather Everything Liner Sealer. i can easily apply it at home even though i suck at doing a perfect eyeliner. and i can ever rub it and it wont come off. i'll definitely repurchase because i'm already on my second jar.

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*TOP REVIEWER* adhesivelove on 3/4/2010 4:36:00 PM more reviews by adhesivelove

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Red   Eyes: Blue    

The only way I can use this eyeliner is wet.. i use an eyeliner sealer.

It is very very black.. and there is tons of fallout if applied dry. I am sure you could use this as a dramatic black shadow as well. (if you dared lol)

I have had this for over a year, and honestly, might have used it 3x, if that. I never have alot of time for makeup when heading out the door, and this seems too big of a problem with the fallout you get. Much rather use something else.

I will try to use this more often to get a better feel for it, but there is soo much product in the jar, that I doubt I'll ever need to buy it again anyways.

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hurdles2003 on 2/22/2010 1:57:00 AM more reviews by hurdles2003

Age: 19-24   Skin: Other, Cool   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

Love this color! While I like the softness of the dry application, it just doesn't work for me - (fades, smears, etc.) But used with Weather Everything sealer, it's a whole different story! The color becomes dark black, and it has great staying power, (does tend to chip a little if worn on a long day.) Very dramatic on my fair skin. I love doing a bare/neutral eye with this eyeliner applied heavily and winged out pretty far. Very lovely!

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*TOP REVIEWER* rosietse on 10/15/2009 10:07:00 PM more reviews by rosietse

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Black, Wavy, Coarse   Eyes: Brown    

What a great product. This is a matte black eyeliner that is not too intense but is just enough. I like this because it gives you so much freedom as to how much you use and how you apply it. You will almost never need to buy a second, as a little goes a long way and you get a lot of product!

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*TOP REVIEWER* NYC22 on 9/27/2009 11:55:00 AM more reviews by NYC22

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

Bare Escentuals Liner Shadow in Onyx is a real winner for me. It's a typical black color (not too soft or too dark). I like to wear it when I use eye shadow as Bare Escentuals's soft black liner shadows aren't dark enough for use with eye shadow. I also wear this from time to time at work when I just wear mascara; I do prefer the soft black liner shadows more for daytime, but the Onyx works fine as well.


I've never been able to apply conventional eye liner in pencil form well at all, but for some reason I am able to apply powdered liner with a brush adeptly - go figure! I think the key is that the liner shadows are more forgiving because they are powder. I have read that people have had a hard time applying these shadows, though. Thus, I wanted to attempt to give some instructions on how I apply them:
1. dip brush into shallow pile of shadow
2. tap, tap, tap away the excess
3. blow on the brush
4. trace a line on your wrist to see if there is too little or too much powder on the brush (optional)
5. lightly drag the brush across the lash line OR gently push the brush onto the lash line from inner sections on out.
Some reviewers wrote that they were getting excess powder on the under-eye region while applying liner shadows. This has happened to me on occasion but once I cleaned my brush I found that the bristles held together more closely and therefore didn't kick off extra powder. Also, I am careful to put only a little bit of powder on the brush and to vigorously tap and blow.


One more point that I would like to make about the black liner shadows is that they make my pupils less dilated so that there is more iris showing. I LOVE this feature because then people can see more of the colored part of eye. I swear, it changes my whole appearance and for this reason alone I will continue to wear them everyday.


Lastly, I'd like to point out that Bare Escentuals makes dozens of shades of liner shadows, but only a handful of them are available at the usual beauty shops (Sephora and Ulta). Thus, I suggest checking out a Bare Escentuals store or going to their website to see what other shades are offered (some look really beautiful). I really hope that more shades are available in the future at Sephora and Ulta as those stores are more accessible and have more lenient return policies.

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TahneeT on 2/9/2009 11:03:00 PM more reviews by TahneeT

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

Very intense cool black color. Have even used it on inner rims with no issues. Remnants of it can be seen after removal for that extra-sexy slept in my makeup look (if you're ever going for that!). One drawback is it's somewhat messy, especially if you don't tap tap tap the brush enough, leaving little black particles all over your face. The dust left in the lid is enough to cover both eyes, I doubt I'll ever need to buy it again, but if I ever do run out I probably will. This is currently the only eyeliner I own from BE, and now I want to try other colors.

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AM9090 on 6/12/2008 10:36:00 AM more reviews by AM9090

Age: 44-55   Skin: Normal, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

Used with Weather Everything, Onyx powder produces a super-black, long lasting line. One very major drawback is the terrific mess it makes. It's like soot. Getting it on to your eyes means getting it everywhere else - face, hands, carpet, etc. It is VERY concentrated which means it is a complete nightmare to handle - particularly first thing in the morning when you are in a rush to get out of the door. If the packaging controlled the powder more (not sure how), it might help. The product itself is not bad.

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Anneke444 on 5/28/2008 11:48:00 AM more reviews by Anneke444

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Medium   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

This is the purest black liner from BE. With the right brush applying isn't that difficult. I do prefer brown liners, but with grey smokey eyes, this is a great liner.

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Enrilynne on 3/12/2008 5:50:00 PM more reviews by Enrilynne

Age: 25-29   Skin: Acne-prone, Tan   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

Pros: Concentrated black color. The deepest, richest, black eyeliner I've ever tried.

Cons: It's a huge mess! I would love to wear this everyday since I love dark eyeliner but the black powder just gets all over the place, and not just on the bathroom counter, all over my face! As soon as I blink I will have black powder on my eyelids and cheeks and have to rub it off, and then put my foundation and powder back on again. Hate it!

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*TOP REVIEWER* Exotichris on 5/24/2007 2:51:00 PM more reviews by Exotichris

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Olive   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

I got this one as part of a set : CROW JEWELS. It is a very concentrated black. I really like it, it goes so smoothly . The set included a definition brush and seem to work well with it, I haven't tried it wet but I guess it wont disappoint me.
I don't think I'll ever have to repurchase because a tiny tiny amount is enough , but really like ONYX.

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huliejall on 10/29/2006 8:54:00 PM more reviews by huliejall

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Combination   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

Using this with BE's Weather Everything Liner Sealer and BE's Retractable Soft Focus Liner Brush is wonderful! The color goes on bold and it lasts. I used to use MAC Fluidline Blacktrack and MAC Powerpoint Engraved and this BE liner surpasses them both (even though my countertop can get quite messy)! I'll probably repurchase this when I run out, but this little product can last a long time!

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escalades on 10/22/2006 9:56:00 PM more reviews by escalades

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Medium   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

I love this product. I will admit that I won't use it by itself. I go over it with Liner Sealer but the color and texture are perfect. It goes on smoothly and I can either go smokey or precise. The only disadvantage is the packaging. I don't tap it into the lid because I'd get way too much product that way. I simply dip my BE liner brush into the tub itself and then apply. I used to use MAC fluidline in Blacktrack which is wonderful in itself but BE liner shadow simply goes above and beyond what I could ever expect in a liner.

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delta69purple on 8/12/2006 11:45:00 PM more reviews by delta69purple

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Dark   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

The first time I ever tried a powder liner. It is easy to apply with the liner sealer. I will definitely repurchase, if I ever run out. A little goes a long way.

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KonnichiwaKitty on 4/11/2006 1:00:00 PM more reviews by KonnichiwaKitty

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

I would buy and use this again ONLY TPGETHER WITH Bare Escentuals Weather zEverything Liner Sealer; otherwise I'll have this black powder all over my face like black heads acne.

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*TOP REVIEWER* gchris on 3/23/2006 8:24:00 PM more reviews by gchris

Age: 30-35   Skin: Dry, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

Solid black color. The only thing I hate is that it does not stay on long and will deposit color on the upper part of your lid when you blink. Plus being in powder form it can leave a mess to clean up all over bathroom and cheeks if used dry.

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peppersunlight on 11/2/2005 6:22:00 PM more reviews by peppersunlight

Age: 25-29   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

before this, i never cared for eyeliner because i couldnt get the swing of it, or it didnt stay put.



this item is wonderful with the BE eyeliner brushes, my personal favorite right now is the heavenly eyeliner brush.



if used dry, it creates a smokey look, if applied with a wet brush it is a little bolder.



the most recent way i have discovered to apply it, is to squirt a tiny amount of the BE skin rev-er upper onto my finger tip, then dip my brush into the onyx and mix into the lotion creating a dark gel that really stays put all day long with out smudging or fading.



to avoid the problem of excess powder falling all over the place when i open the jar, or accidentally spilling the whole jar, i scoop a small amount into an empty and cleaned eyeshadow jar.



if i ever run out, i will buy it again!

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