It is a lustrous white solid used since antiquity, notably in ancient Egypt.

Previously, until the last decade of the twentieth century, bismuth oxochloride was known as bismuthyl chloride.

The structure of bismuth oxychloride can be thought of as consisting of layers of Cl−, Bi3+ and O2− ions (in the image Bi = grey, O = red, Cl = green).

It is part of the "pearly pigment found in eye shadow, hair sprays, powders, nail polishes, and other cosmetic products".

[5] Owing to the plate-like structure of the BiOCl, its suspensions exhibit optical properties like nacre.