EO Clouding my Product?

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BayBoy

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My product begins with a perfectly translucent, tawny / bourbon-ish solution that is the result of a 6 week steep with bay leaves and Everclear which I then cut with witch hazel and water.

However, when I add EO to finish the scent, the mixture turns cloudy and looses that clean, pure look.

Is there a way to avoid this from happening? Or is this just how it is? I feel like I've seen other products with similar recipes that are perfectly translucent.
 
The cloudiness means the EOs you are using are not completely soluble in alcohol and/or water. The only way to entirely avoid this problem is to not use those EOs, and I suspect that's not an option.

One solution is to add sufficient solubilizer until the mixture turns clear. Most people have good success using polysorbate 80 to solubilize EOs into a product like yours.

You may also find that the mixture may clear with time -- days to weeks. If so, you may see a thin layer of the insoluble material either floating on the surface or settled to the bottom that will need to be removed.

A final solution is to understand that just because a product is "similar" doesn't mean it's "the same." You may have to simply embrace the cloudiness.
 
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