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I have added each of these strings to the base.css in the main theme, 
but if I remove the strings from the "EDIT CSS" area in Admin, the desired effects do not stick. 
If the exact same strings are in base.css, why would this happen? 
Do these attributes need to be edited elsewhere?
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-----This string makes the top header (behind the "site name") black------
.ow_site_panel {
        height: 41px;
        background: #212121;
        border-bottom: 1px solid #363636;
}

-----This string makes the background black behind the "Messages", "Not.", "User" and "Admin" buttons-----
.ow_console_body {
        padding: 8px 4px 8px 8px;
        background: #212121;
        text-align: right;
        border-bottom-left-radius: 2px;
    -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 2px;
    -webkit-bottom-left-border-radius: 2px;
}

-----This string controls the border around the buttons referenced above-----
.ow_console_item {
    background: #000;/* url(images/console_item_bg.png) repeat-x 0px 0px;*/
    display: inline-block;
    position:relative;
    line-height: 21px;
    height:22px;
    margin:0 4px 0 0px;
    padding:0 8px;
    border-radius: 1px;
    -moz-border-radius: 1px;
    -webkit-border-radius: 1px;
    border: 1px solid #363636;
    vertical-align: top;
    text-align: left;
}

-----This string keeps the button hover background black on the "User" and "Admin" buttons----- 
.ow_console_dropdown_hover:hover {
    background: #000; /* url(images/console_active_item_bg.png) repeat-x 0px 0px;*/
    border-color: #8b8b8b;
    cursor: pointer;
    color: #fff;    
}

-----This string makes the labels on the above buttons blue (but for some reason does not work for the admin dashboard page)-----
.ow_console_item a {
    color: #33ddff;
}

-----This string makes the "User" and "Admin" dropdown menus black-----
html body .ow_console .ow_tooltip_body {
    background:#000;
    border: 1px solid #363636;
    -webkit-box-shadow: 0 2px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.4);
    -moz-box-shadow: 0 2px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.4);
    box-shadow: 0 2px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.4);
 }

-----This string makes the h3 header gray behind the "Customize this page" on the "Main" and "Forum" pages-----
.ow_highbox_table .ow_highbox,
.ow_highbox
{
        background-color: #a4a8ab;
}