I conducted a brief optical experiment where we focused an led light from a cell phone through a magnifier and onto the mica sample. We observed the scattered light upon the wall afterwards. We panned the light source over the edge and across starting from the apparent left of the following images.

No conclusion is meant to be drawn from this information.

Looking into this more we're not sure if the coloration is from the mica or an interaction with the magnifier.

The greater investigation is into Birefringence.

To research more into this I ordered some polarized films which should arrive shortly. That deducts around $10 from the budget.

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I have not done a comparison of apparent optical clarity and transmission yet. I think I will just make a light source and then a testing rig to take photos through with progressive layers. There should be a way to measure the change in brightness then. I will likely have to have the lens right upon the sample to eliminate over-bleed and lock in speed, etc. for a fair comparison.

I also started doing some snooping around for nose bridge cushions, most of which are silicone. (so I could make a custom mold...)  Stick on ones seem very inexpensive and like the way to go, but I'll see where the next couple designs go.