Retouching..

In school I'm learning how to retouch pictures. This is my attempt at a co-workers picture that I took. Let me know if you feel its too much or too little or what else can be done. We haven't learned digital make-up yet so thats the next thing I want to attempt on a model (one that really needs it).

before:

That's not bad at all. I might have left just a touch more texture on her skin, but I think you're right on the line of having enough texture left.

Looks Pretty Good

perfect imo. not too much, not too little. Want to go into detail?

Little punch

Last edit looks great - better sharpness and texture ...it now brings focus to her eyes. I also like that the color of her shirt now brings out and ties in her eye shadow/makeup.

Thats something I forgot to do..lol. I forgot to sharpen the picture up a bit and bumping up the color a bit. I like the last edit as well. Once I get home, I'm going to play withe picture some more and see what I can get after I sharpen it and boost up the color.

I did try to bring the texture back but it wasn't working when i tried. its very faint if at all noticable. I guess I have to try again to see where I went wrong. There were about 2 or 3 ways that I was taught how to soften skin. I felt this was the easiest way to do it because I can do as little or as much as I want. The thing I have to learn is to take my time with it when it comes to masking. The very first picture I did, I messed up royally. Then I was taught to mask out the eyes and mouth at 100% opacity and then bring the opacity down to 20% on the brush and do the edges. That way it blends in and you don't see hard edges. The rest is pretty much using blend modes, etc.