First Batch! Questions

[Mestiza Girl]

Hope everyone is having a great day so far! I'm excited to say I have finished pouring in my first batch of Wild Rose soap! Pictures attached. Now the hardest part is playing the waiting game while it gels. One thing I did have a question about was the gel phase. I live in a fairly cool apartment with great air circulation. I covered the top of the mold with a piece of cardboard and wrapped the entire mold in a towel. How do I avoid partial gel??

The other question I had was how to pour in the soap to where it is neat and clean looking. As you can see in the pics attached, the sides are kind of messy and I want to wipe it down but scared of messing up the soap. Maybe I just need to be more careful? Haha. I also had to smooth the top with a spatula because pouring it in make huge trace like lines, I'm assuming because its very thick.

My final question is how to avoid air bubbles. I use a KitchenAid SB from Amazon, and I notice lots of tiny bubbles are created at the time of use. I try to swish around the SB while its off to reduce the bubbles and attempted to "burp" the soap. I'd love to hear you tips!!

Thank you in advance!