Photography by Jasz.

The model in the “Before” looks amazing, but with a little bit of Photoshop, I think the “After” looks a lot more polished (or maybe I’ve just joined the cult of retouching?).

Because the first shot was so great, I really didn’t have to do much: (1) clean up blemishes (spot healing tool), (2) erase under-eye circles (clone stamp and healing brush), (3) tucking / defining the chin area (clone stamp – darken and forward warp tool), (4) whiten teeth (lasso tool and curves adjustment layer), (5) whiten whites of eyes (lasso tool and curves adjustment layer), and (6) darken irises (lasso tool and curves adjustment layer).

The new thing I’ve learned this time is how to define chins and eliminate double chins (this YouTube tutorial was very helpful).

What do you think of the before & after?

Here’s another attempt… this time I played a little with color / saturation / hues, to bring out a little bit more warmth in the picture. Photography by Jasz at http://www.compho.dk.

The coolest things I’ve learned with this picture is how to whiten teeth, adjust the opacity of the “skin layer” so that some slight fine lines show through (to make it look more natural, but still better), and adding more color to the lips.

Photoshop is addicting. And after stumbling in the program for a few days, I understand exactly why stars insist on releasing on retouched photos. If even a newbie like me can smooth skin, eliminate under-eye circles, and brighten lips, imagine what a professional can do!

Top is before (image via sheknows.com), bottom is after.

Can you tell what areas I retouched? (Obviously, the hair is something I did NOT retouch. Still trying to find a good tutorial on how to clean up flyaway hair – if you know any, please let me know).

Constructive feedback / critiques are very welcome!