Retouching Photos For Icons?

I'm currently trying to make a batch of icons from pictures I've downloaded from my digital camera.

What has me stumped is how to get rid of -- or at least lessen -- those "imperfections" the camera loves dearly. You know, stuff like uneven skin tone/blemishes and undereye circles.

I've been messing around with both the smudge and blur tools, but neither gets rid of the imperfections enough. I've tried erasing and recoloring -- yuck.

Any ideas? I'm using both PSE and PSP8.