Not a lot of help from me, just a note on the flexibility of the soap. I had the same thing happen when I tried this and if I remember rightly, I left it sit out for a day or so to let it lose some moisture and it hardened up some. I have a new base from NG so I'll be trying it again in the future too. That is a great thing about this.. if at first you don't succeed, well I guess it just means buy more supplies and try again!