  Ok so this whole soap thing is really working out for me. Do I detect the next career of the week? Eh, perhaps not, maybr just selling a few bars here and there on the side. But who knows? I really do enjoy it, and it's so creative -- exactly what I need to feel... "whole" I guess.
Anyway. I tried some of my paprika/cinnamon/cloves combination a few weeks ago. It may have been too soon to try it because it sort of got this gooey film on top, sort of like excess oil -- it doesn't seem to be bad, I mean it hasn't burned me yet. So I've handed out a few bars hoping to get some feedback. Meanwhile, my first experiment with coconut oil might be my best bar yet.
I added sugar to the water before mixing the lye -- it turned the water a light brown color -- but it did seem to make the bars slightly translucient, which looks really nice. I'll have to try more sugar though, next time, see if I can amplify the effect. Also the green color (obtained from mixing 1/2 block of blue candle wax color and 1/2 block yellow color) is fantastic! I'll post some pictures as soon as I set myself up with Flickr. The bars came out of the mold so perfectly I couldn't believe it.
This was the first time there was no excess moisture at the bottom of the bars, it seems I mixed and let cure just perfectly. Unfortunatly though I think this will be my last batch of soap for a while, since I now have more soap than I know what to do with. I guess I'll have to send more bars out to my guinea pigs....er....family. 
