Oh, wow, working deliberately against your tried and true process! Congrats on the great result!

I especially like 5 (awesome crop and coloring), 6 and 7 (great text placement), 9 (I love the borders and the zooming in in the levels), 12 (great daring composition), and 19 (amazing coloring!).

My own process usually tends towards pastel coloring, and I've written a tutorial on muted skin tones last year that might provide some inspiration? https://tinny.dreamwidth.org/651350.html