I did it from my iPhone and found that the biggest issue was with the light and the background -- when I was standing in front of a blank wall with my face toward the window, it seemed to be happier.
I also found that sometimes it asked me to do two things at once, so I did both things and was accepted. You might also try turning the opposite way from what you think (I was overthinking it and turning to the left of the phone -- my right -- when it asked but my husband pointed out that this wasn't what it wanted and then that also finally got it to work all the way).
Also, just to confirm, you're using the front facing camera?