Synthetic Beauty

The following tutorial is based on a somewhat unknown filter in Photoshop. After applying this filter, it will take several adjustments to the image looks cool. So if you're not yet familiar with the features of layer mask and adjustment layers, it's time to put your hands dirty to learn. I consider the adjustments and retouching techniques very important because they are what give that extra touch to the image. Enough talk and let's get to it.

1. Take the image below and open it in Photoshop

I use Photoshop 6 but I believe that those who use other versions will not have problems.

After opening the image, duplicate the layer, for that click with the right mouse button on the layer and choose Duplicate Layer, a window will opens, just click OK. Go to the menu Filter / Noise / Median, set radius to 5 and press OK. The image becomes blurred.

2. Click on the layer mask button in the layers palette . You will see a white square next to the layer icon, this is your mask.. Now you should get the brush tool , black color, choose 50% opacity in the options bar (or press 5 on the keyboard), go through parts of the image using a brush with 10px  and type soft round. Basically you should pass on the eyes, outline the mouth, chin, hair pieces and some traces on the nose.

Tip: Hold ALT on the keyboard and click on the mask to see it. Click again holding ALT to return to normal.

After the Median Filter:

How should be your mask:

Result after the mask:

3. Now add an adjustment layer Hue/Saturation, to do this click this button in the layers palette and choose Hue/Saturation. Click the check box "Colorize" and put the values: 160, 25, 0, this sequence. Now click on the mask that appears next to the adjustment layer and paint the inside of the eye with black. This helps to not apply the adjustment layer to the eyes. Now put this layer in “Screen” mode and duplicate this layer, then put it in the "Normal" mode.

After the first layer of Hue/Saturation and Screen mode:

How should be your mask:

After the second layer of Hue/Saturation and "Normal" mode:

4. Add another Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, this time check the "Colorize" and put the values ​​160, 50, 0 and click OK. Click on this layer mask and press "Ctrl + I". This will invert the mask color, now you should get the brush with 100% opacity and with white color selected, pass through the inside of the eyes, avoiding the white color of the eyes.

Add a Levels adjustment layer and set the values ​​0 | 1.00 | 98 and press OK. Click on this layer mask and press "Ctrl + I" and do as before, paint the area inside the white of the eyes. This will make the eyes appear brighter.

How should be your mask:

5. Ok, now our girl is now with a different look. But not over yet.

Add a new layer and go to Edit / Fill or press "Shift + Backspace". Choose 50% gray (50% Black) and press OK. Put this layer in “Overlay" mode. She will disappear. Now with the Burn Tool / 30% exposure, you should work on the parts you want to darken and the Dodge Tool, with 20% exposure should pass on the the parts you want to lighten. You should use these two tools with Range option in Highlights. This is just like makeup. A darkened or lightened in the right place can be beautiful, but if applied in the wrong place can be horrible. Take a look at my gray layer to see how I did.

If you prefer, hide Hue/Saturation layers to get a better view of the skin. To do this just click on the eye that is next to the layer name.

6. To give more darkened, we add another Levels adjustment layer with values ​​59 | 1.00 | 255. In this layer you can even spend a little brush tool with black color on the teeth to make them appear longer.

The image is too green? Then add another Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, set the Saturation to 100 and press OK. Decrease opacity to 40% and in this layers mask, spend a little brush with black color and 50% opacity, over the eyes and mouth to keep the color.

Optionally, to highlight the dark parts of the image and give a greater contrast, you can add a new layer and fill it completely with black (Press "D" on the keyboard and then ALT + DEL). Place this layer on Soft Light mode and decrease opacity to 19%.

Well, if you followed the tutorial until here, your image should look like my screenshot below. If you didn’t, keep practicing, adjustment are always tricky, but with practice you'll get great results.