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To make the soap look like a caramel, I first bring my soap to a fairly thick trace. I then pour it into a mold which is flat so the wide surface of the soap will be the exposed portion. Lift your mold up and let it sort of slam down onto the counter a couple times to make sure it is well seated in the mold and to dislodge any air bubbles. Then take either a spoon or a spatula and lightly run it through the surface of the soap to see if it will hold a pattern. You may need to let it sit for a few minutes for it to work. When you can run your spoon or spatula through the surface of the soap and the groove remains, you are ready to begin. Just pretend you are icing a cake, and swirl your spoon back and forth leaving a nice pattern. When it looks just the way you want it to, it's time to let it process. (You cannot use plastic wrap or freezer wrap on the surface of this soap, so if you have been told this is the way to eliminate "ash" on your soap, ignore that advice just this once.)
Set your mold on top of a thick towel, and then, if your mold does not have a lid, use a some sort of shallow box or box lid to set over the soap mold, and cover that with a thick towel as well. This needs to remain untouched for 24 hours or so. You could also CPOP the soap if you are familiar with that technique. CPOP = Cold Process Oven Process. I do all my soaps that way, but that's another story.
When it's time to uncover your soap, test it to see if it is firm by pressing it with your finger. If it's nice and firm, you can unmold and cut into bars. Let the bars cure for a couple weeks to dry out. To get the shiny appearance, I take the bars and place them on a wire rack and place that over my sink. I then take my kitchen sink spray and gently spray the soaps with warm water. I also use my finger to sort of polish the tops and round the edges as I am rinsing. Take the soaps to a place where they will be undisturbed for a couple more weeks to finish curing.
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