skin retouching w/o the blur...

...was wondering if anyone has ever done a tutorial for retouching/smoothing out skin without losing the texture. i sometimes use the surface filter on one layer and the highpass on another, put sometimes i see people actually using a texture to give the impression of not-so-doctored-skin. i hope you get the gist of what i mean...bluesuzanne has the most gorgeous art work i've ever seen and it seems to me she uses an extra layer of texture to make the subject's skin "pop out" if you will...

i know i'm rambling but hopefully you can help =D