Teach Soap

I've made plenty of soap over the last 7 years but I've never ventured beyond simple fat/oil + lye (no additives, EO's, FO's, swirls or colours). Some of my batches have been great, some flops & others 'interesting' like the one my husband used the other night which smells heavily of pepper. (worked better than the commercial mechanics liquid soap).
After taking a 2 year break, I'm dipping my toes back into soaping with some 1lb batches.
#1 was a Olive/Coconut/Castor blend with 2.3oz greek yoghurt added at trace. No gel. Result is a nice light coloured bar.
#2 used the same blend of oils but replaced all the water with frozen coconut milk. Result is a creamier coloured bar than #1. When I first cut this, each slice appeared to have a blue 'shadow' on the cut surface extending almost to each edge. 2 days after cutting, this has disappeared.

Now that I've tried using those additives 'fresh' I'd like to know how they would soap using a powdered form (reconstituted with a small portion of the water allowance & added at light trace). Can I maintain a pale soap this way? If this were allowed to gel, would the soap still be pale on cooling?

As a secondary question, is it easier to avoid gel in a slab mold rather than a loaf mold?

I have used both fresh and as a powder. Depending how much you use and whether you gel or not, the ungelled will come out lighter.
I prefer to not gel. My soaps go in the fridge or the freezer; up to overnight.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.