Alyson Hannigan icon tutorial

Go from this:
to:


I used CS2 for this, selective colouring and curves.

The effects you will get depend greatly on the base you start off with.



First, open your base. I used a new level ajustment layer to brighten the image a bit.

Input levels: 27, 1.14, 255
Output levels: 18, 255

Then, I added a new colour balance adjustment layer. It might not look like it does much, but in the end it will make a difference.

Midtones: +13, 0 +8

I then made a new selective colour adjustment layer.

Reds: -100, +6, +100, +32
Yellows: -100, -12, +47, +55
Cyans: -100, -100, -100, +24
Neutrals: -8, +3, +10, -15

Make a new hue/saturation adjustment layer.

Saturation: +15

Now for another selective colour adjustment layer. This will mute the colours a bit and add a tint of blue to the icon.

Reds: -67, +36, -21, -21
Cyans: -100, +30, -2, +29
Neutrals: +100, -7, -30, +24

Another new hue/saturation adjustment layer.

Saturation: +18

Now to brighten up the image a tiny bit, add a new level adjustment layer.

Input: 39, 1.55, 246
Output: 20, 247

Add a new selective colour adjustment layer to bring out the red in her hair.

Reds: -11, -23, +40, +17
Cyans: +100, -16, -62, +11

Make a new curves adjustment layer.

BLUE:
Input: 50, Output: 77
Input: 185, Output: 188

To bring out more red, make a new colour balance adjustment layer.

Midtones: +12, +8, -9
Shadows: +8, +13, -13
Highlights: -6, -3, +10

Last new hue/saturation adjustment layer.

Saturation: +15

The icon looks like this at the moment:


You can keep it like that or add effects. I added a light texture from colorfilter set to lighten: