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Step 1: For brightening teeth, irises, whites of the eyes, eyebrow arches, undereye circles, and the bridge of the nose, add a Curves adjustment layer. Click a point in the middle of the curve and drag upward. Click OK.

Step 2: Change the adjustment layer’s blending mode to Luminosity. Press Command/Cntrl-I to invert the mask of the adjustment layer. This turns the mask thumbnail black, hiding the adjustment. Press D for the default colors, and switch the Foreground Color to white as necessary by pressing X. Painting with white reveals the settings of the adjustment layer; painting with black conceals them.

Step 3: With a medium-sized airbrush and preferably a Wacom tablet, brush the areas of the photo that need lightening, adjusting the brush size with the Left/Right Bracket keys as necessary. Naturalize the overall lightening by lowering the adjustment layer’s Opacity. I set mine to 30%.

Step 4: For contouring and darkening areas like the eyelashes, pupil, eyebrows, and eyelid crease, add another Curves adjustment layer. Click a point in the middle and drag downward. Repeat the invert mask procedure and painting in Step 2. When darkening eyelashes with a Wacom tablet, use a tiny airbrush with Other Dynamics in the Brushes palette set to Pen Pressure for Opacity and Flow. Use a larger, soft airbrush for shadowing the eyelids. Lower this layer’s Opacity to 68%.

Step 5: Add a layer to dab white in the pupil’s center with a small soft brush, and apply an extra dab on the teeth. Lower the layer Opacity.

Step 6: Create a Color Balance adjustment layer, adjust the settings to +16, -14, +9. Choose Midtones, check the Preserve Luminosity box, and click OK. Press Command/Ctrl-I to invert the layer mask. With the Foreground Color white, use a large soft airbrush to add color into the cheeks, forehead, and chin. Brush the lips with a smaller brush. Lower the layer Opacity to 37%.

Step 7: Add a blank layer to scratch in some white squiggles for lip gloss with a 1-pixel hard-edge brush. When you’re done, press Command/Ctrl-J to jump a copy to a new layer. Apply a 4 to 5-pixel Gaussian Blur. Lower the Opacity for this layer to 64% and the original to 21%.

Step 8: Top it off with a couple of Curves adjustment layers if you like a brighter and more contrasty image. For the first Curves adjustment, simply select it without changing the curve. Click OK, change the layer’s blending mode to Screen, then lower the Opacity to 12%. Add another Curves adjustment layer. Change this layer’s blending mode to Soft Light and lower the Opacity to 42%.