Hi Emilee,
I have used coconut milk in soap before, and coconut powder. (You know that stuff that you mix up with water to make coconut milk or cream depending on your recipe.)
The tinned coconut milk works great. But you have to be careful how you add it. You have to subtract it off your liquids, and you can either freeze it and add it to your lye, or just add it at trace. Personally I think the latter is much easier, and you are much more likely to retain the scent. It definitely did have a coconut-y smell. And it makes the soap lather beautifully because of the naturallly occurring sugars. I haven't done anything with coconut shreds (called desicatted coconut over here), but I know some others on this forum have. There is no reason why you can't add. Have fun experimenting and make sure you post up some pics when you are done!!
