Usually I'll just convert it to B&W if it is too overexposed.
1. 1st convert the image to B&W using the channel mixer - (see tuturial for this at DPS)
2. Duplicate the image twice. 2nd layer is for the face and the 3rd layer for the background.
3. Adjusted the contrast/brightness and levels for the face layer according to your preference and merge.
4. Adjusted the contrast/brightness and levels for the background layer according to your preference and then merge again.
5. Lastly is creating a mask on my background layer and painting the face area to reveal the 2nd face layer.
6. Merge all layers and save.
