3 Post Processing Progression Photos (say that 5 times fast) -- CC please!

[Coppatop85]

I'm looking for criticism on the PROCESSING here, rather than the style of photo / composition / model etc. I just took a quick shot to work on PPing of skin, hair, and color tones. I was also testing a home made diffuser for the on board flash as seen Here (http://mgreerphoto.blogspot.com/2007/03/diy-lighting-equipment_17.html) (Used the film canister diffuser for the on-board flash). Let me know what you think. Again, focusing on the PP work only, not the other aspects.

Straight OOC:
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh2/Coppatop85/photoshop%20practice/1allydiffuserorig.jpg

RAW Conversion:
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh2/Coppatop85/photoshop%20practice/2AllyDiffuser.jpg

Final PP:
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh2/Coppatop85/photoshop%20practice/3AllyDiffuserPP.jpg


Also, I tried to remove the braces here, it's the only thing I did different between the last picture and this one, but the previous picture is essential the final minus this step.
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh2/Coppatop85/photoshop%20practice/3AllyDiffuserPPnobrace.jpg

[stillresonance]

Colors look good, and the skin looks good too. But it is not a tight enough shot to see the texture of the skin. Her eyes really look unnatural, like glowing, in a alien on the show stargate kind of way.

[Damo77]

+1 on the eyes. Waaaaaaay too white.

Nice work on the braces!

The background is great, the overall colour is nice. My only other thought was: I suspect her shirt is meant to be white. Given the way you've brightened everything else up so beautifully, the shirt should be a brilliant white.

[stillresonance]

Here's a try based on the version you posted at top. Gave it a shot with removing the braces, though there wasn't enough resolution to do a good job on. I'm certainly no expert, but maybe it'll give you an idea