I take pictures as a hobby and will begin the BA in photography in the fall at USC(gamecocks). I have been taking photos of myself and playing around w/ skin smoothing etc. I want to know how to smooth texture and color(get rid of stretch marks etc.) I have been using the healing brush but want to learn more about layers. Can the liqufy tool be used to improve on full body shots if needed. Thanks to all for the info

Morgan

Katrin Eismann has some excellent techniques in her book Photoshop Restoration & Retouching that might be of use to you. Including the use of liquefy tools to "re-shape" a model.

The chapters on Portrait Retouching and Glamour & Fashion Retouching would be most relevant to you.