It is a white color. Coconut oil you may find locally in a restaurant supply shop in your city. Palm oil can be a lot more difficult to find. Or see our oils page. Sure, lye is not just for opening drains.
Soap is a result of a chemical reaction between lye, fat and water.
In 24hrs, you no longer have lye, fat and water. If you followed the recipe exactly, you won't have any lye at all in your soap. That is, if you are using the fragrance which Soap Crafters supplies. Many companies buy the lowest quality fragrances to offer what seems to be really low prices. You need to use about four times the amount of these oils and you will have problems with the scent fading away very quickly.