Best way to Sharpen portraits??

[K.ErickPhotography]

what is the proper and most effective way to sharpen portraits/faces. I always over sharpen feeling that the picture is never sharp enough. Ive been using the High Pass filter at about 6, Overlay, then adjusting the opacity to about 85. Sometimes I get more of a grainy look then a sharp one.

Can anybody share how they sharpen, I know theres literally hundreds of ways to do so!
Thanks everybody=)

[OsmosisStudios]

The key to sharp portraits is to get them sharp in the camera. Sharpening isnt a replacement for proper technique, lenses or lighting.

I use sharpening rather sparingly in my portraits as it tends to bring up grain (as you noticed) and bring out skin imperfections.

Sharpening in software increases the differences between 2 coloured pixels side by side. Thats why grain shows up more.

High pass is probably your best bet, but set it at a lower power (in the grey preview, use the lowest possible and bring it up until you can see the very edges fraintly) and use overlay or hardlight, if necessary.