This is a simple glowy effect turtorial. I will show you how to take this image:


and make it look like this

First thing you do is copy and paste the image into a new document (the key to insuring you never destroy original images is to always do this):
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Duplicate Layer 1 so that there are two layers and name the copied layer Layer 2:
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Next I will apply a Gaussian Blur to Layer 2 :
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You can change the Radius of the blur to your preference. I changed mine to Radius 7.7 :
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Next I Desaturate Layer 2:
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your image should look like this:
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Then put a Softlight Filter on Layer 2
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Now I am going to go back to Layer 1. So Click Layer 1 and apply a Smart Blur to it
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Change the Smart Blur Radius to whatever you think is best. Here I chose Radius of 3.9 Threshold is 23.5 Quality is low and the Mode is normal
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Then I Faded out the blur to about 65%
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Next I take the Blur tool and smooth out pixellated parts of the image. Mostly parts of the skin
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Once we got Layer 1 where we want it we go back up to Layer 2 and apply another Filter. This time we are gonna apply a Diffuse Glow to it, making sure that the background color is white
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Of course change the settings to wherever you like. I hardly ever adjust the graininess unless my creation has a grainy texture to it. But it's rare that I use a diffused glow on truely textured creations.
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From here I change the Opacity to about 56%:
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Now take the Dodge Tool to Layer 1 and 2 (optional) and highlight all the areas that light hits the image.:
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This could actually be the end of the glowy effect. But I like to make it look a little more glossy so I duplicate Layer 1 again:
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I Overlay this Layer and apply a Gaussian Blur to it. This time the Radius is 2.5 and I change the Opacity of it to 43% and the to Fill 47%
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Now flatten the image
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and it should look something like this:
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