Clear, lasting, inexpensive EOs

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I have been doing well with EOs so far, but it’s hard to overcome the color so far. What are your favorite EOs for CP that:
1)Are clear and colorless, or light.
2)Last, hold well through the cure.
3)Won’t break the bank.

And/or what is your best method for lightening the color with EOs, is it TD, white mica, zinc oxide?... any tips welcome.
 
There's a long list of EOs, and corresponding info from several members in this thread. Will help answering question no. 2 :)

As for white... Zinc whitens less than TD - and by less I mean its not an opaque white - and I've not tried mica.

Patchouli is definitely not light lol. Neither is my bergamot and neroli. I'm not sure but I think my spearmint is light, as well as my lemongrass.
 
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White mica is not nearly as strong as TD. Even when whitening an already light batch - I have to throw in a ton of white mica (I've used 2 from Mad Micas, and 1 from Nurture - and gave them all to the kid to use in slime!). I'm happy with TD! Never used zinc.

Essential oils are just delicate. Lavender, litsea, rosemary, peppermint, eucalyptus and spearmint are all I use. (except folded citrus, but they are not light or clear)
 
TD is the strongest if you want to whitened your soap. White mica is basically mica powders binded with TD or ZO, you are just using a diluted TD in that way.
As for EOs, most EOs I've used don't color the soap. The strongest scents so far are patchouli, rosemary, lemongrass, and strangely, orange peel. If you look up common base notes for perfumes and find EOs of those, they are usually long-lasting in soaps than top and middle notes.
 
Spearmint & lime EOs smell great together. Neither has much color.
Those are two EIs I do t have but want to try. Thanks for the suggestion!!!

Just found a clear combo that I love! I’m about to do a whole bunch of snowflakes and really didn’t want to have to worry about overcoming EO colors to get a nice white.
 
This soaper loves TD!! I get great white soap. And I only do essential oils. Orange 10x is the main one that colors. I use a lot of cedarwood, litsea, lavender, rosemary, anise, peppermint, basil, bergamot and scents stick although I use them in less than 12 months. Also these are ones I can afford. For citrus, the 5x and 10x last longer.
 
For a white color base, I use 1 tsp.-1Tbls. white Kaolin clay. It also helps to "stick" the scent and make it last longer. Lard is good for that too. For fragrance, I'm convinced that EO/FO blends work the best for making the scent of EOs last longer. WSP now makes EO/FO blends and I'm slowly working my way through the list. As for discoloration, you only have to check the info provided with the fragrance to see which ones discolor. They aren't inexpensive, but then anything worth the money is going to cost more, in my experience.

Go to WSP Fragrance Calculator to see a drop down menu of all 106 FO & EO Blends.
 
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