Soaking the soap puck longer to soften it up and then concentrate on loading a throughly flicked out brush with soap so that it is loaded and sticky. Then move to another container (mug or dish) and gradually add water and whip until you get your lather building. I use this method for all of my soaps and find that it cuts down on the time needed to get the mix right. Good luck, Colleen's soap is worth the effort as it results in some Heavenly aromas.
Hope this helps,
-rob