How do I color grade portraits in Photoshop without making skin tones look fake?

[StellaET]

I’ve been trying to develop a more consistent, cinematic look for my portrait photography. I can get the exposure and basic white balance right in Lightroom, but when I move a photo into Photoshop for finer adjustments, I feel completely lost. I watched a few tutorials on color grading in Photoshop, and while I understand the theory of using curves and color balance layers, my attempts just make the skin tones look weird and artificial. I’m unsure if I’m overcomplicating it—maybe I should be doing more in Lightroom first? Or perhaps I need to focus on getting the shot perfect in-camera. It’s frustrating because I can see the mood I want in my head, but I can’t seem to translate it onto the screen without ruining the natural feel of the image.

[Michael47]

Totally get the overwhelm. A practical way is to split the task: get the base look in Lightroom and leave the fine-grain color grading in Photoshop to targeted adjustments via layers and masks. Start with skin tones as a reference and keep the edits small and non-destructive so you can compare to your original mood.

[Michael81]

Try a tiny starter on one portrait: in Photoshop add a Color Balance adjustment layer, mask it to the skin area, and nudge warmth and tint very slightly. Keep the curve adjustments gentle and watch for orange skin in midtones. Build confidence with a few repeats.

[Emily.S]

Gradient Map can be a blunt tool but used with a mask and low opacity it can unify the palette without looking fake. Pair it with a soft light or overlay blend and a beauty pass of curves on a separate layer for color grading progress.

[GeorgeA]

Remember, you’re not failing if it doesn’t glow right away. Fix the camera and Lightroom first; Photoshop is for polish. If skin tones go off, you probably overdid saturation or misused a color layer—back off and reset.

[AdamAM]

Two-file workflow helps: keep a RAW master with Lightroom adjustments and a separate Photoshop file for the color grading pass that you can compare side by side. Name layers clearly so feedback from clients is easy to follow.

[PaisleyD]

Practice plan: pick 3 portraits, each with a slightly different lighting scenario, and experiment with a three-layer stack (curves, color balance, hue/saturation) plus a mask for skin. Track what changes move the mood without wrecking realism.

[Gregory63]

Would you like me to draft a simple, repeatable 5-step Lightroom-Photoshop workflow you can try this week to get consistent results?