Skin Soften / Eyes enhancement critique..

I've been working on my skin softening and selective sharpening technique.. as well as my dark circles/bags removal and enhancement of the cornea/iris to add a little life to them.
I'd like to get some feedback from everyone if you think it is to much (particularly the eyes, I think the softening may not be enough - but I also tend to like conservative PP). But I'll let you be judge! As far myself, I am pretty happy with the final result, but I do tend to get tunnel vision after staring at images for hours and I know sometimes I can over-do it and turn it in to an unnatural looking image.. First image is PP in LR4.. second image is touched up in PS CS6 (skin softening, selective sharpening, bags/circles reduction and cornea/iris enhancement).

#1 before

looks good but pores are all gone she had few showing to begin with. here is a link to a video I keep going back to when i start wondering what to do with skin

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=RM0byiIcTJ0

I like the before better. She has some slight freckling that works with her skin color and the shot.

A basic error most people make when retouching eyes is that they make the sclera uniformly white; that's an incorrect approach since the eyelids and eyelashes create subtle shadows. See this thread for additional discussion: I'm flat and boring. Help me Lightroom. help

I like the before better, too. In the after, her skin looks a bit strange and splotchy. I'd probably fix the slight bags under her eyes, and leave the rest alone.

proximustherogue wrote in post #16213729
looks good but pores are all gone she had few showing to begin with. here is a link to a video I keep going back to when i start wondering what to do with skin

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=RM0byiIcTJ0

Wow! Amazing tutorial.. lot's to it and I'll definitely study this and use it down the road. For now I'm trying to keep it pretty simple and minimal since my photography skill isn't where I'd like it to be yet.

gonzogolf wrote in post #16213740
I like the before better. She has some slight freckling that works with her skin color and the shot.

I can see what you're saying here.. although the higher res flickr image seems to show the pores better, I guess I should take a look at that.

PixelMagic wrote in post #16214281
A basic error most people make when retouching eyes is that they make the sclera uniformly white; that's an incorrect approach since the eyelids and eyelashes create subtle shadows. See this thread for additional discussion: I'm flat and boring. Help me Lightroom. help

Thanks for the link! I did use an overlay blending mode and a white brush to touch up the eyes, and it does look a little overdone in the photo now that I've had a few days away from it.. perhaps I should select a color from her original cornea color to brush over?

careanne wrote in post #16215660
I like the before better, too. In the after, her skin looks a bit strange and splotchy. I'd probably fix the slight bags under her eyes, and leave the rest alone.

Seems to be the general vote the before skin looked better.. now that I've not looked at the image for a couple days I tend to agree slightly. How about the eyes?

I like the before shot more too, not because your enhancements are bad, but she looks more gorgeous that way.
Just add a little bit brightness to the face in the first shot and u are set !!!

first natural shot is beautiful
second is blotchy