The only eo that's had any staying power on the skin in my soaps is patchouli, and that was a soap with nothing but patchouli. In soaps with patch as part of a blend, it doesn't have the same longevity. I've had this same problem and same question. The whole reason I want to make my own soaps and use essential oils to perfume them is to stay away from the syndets and the phthalates and parabens frequently found in commercial soaps and fragrance oils. Just keep trying different blends with the strong base notes, we'll figure something out eventually. I'm going to tray a soap with clays; bentonite clay is suuposed to help the eos last longer in the soap, maybe it will help it last on the skin as well?