.01 I cropped my base
The first thing I always do is sharpen the base.
I usually use the unsharpen mask because I find it the easiest and most precise sharpening tool Photoshop provides us with.
I use different settings for each icon, so I’m just going to give you a range of numbers.

Amount: 25% – 50%
Radius: 0,4 pixels – 0,8 pixels
Threshold: 0

I tend to use the normal sharpen tool instead when I’m working with very blurry images.

.02 This base is actually not too dark. But I like to use multiply and color burn layers in my icons, so I decided to brighten it a little bit anyway.
I duplicated the base once and set that layer to screen, 50% opacity. (You can always change the opacity of this layer, if your icon turns out too dark or too bright.)

I duplicated my base once more, dragged that layer to the top and set it to soft light at 25%. This will add a little more contrast to your image.

Coloring

My coloring for this icon is really simple. All you need are two adjustment layers. Everything after that is just fine-tuning.
Take a good look at your icon and try to find out what it needs to achieve the look you want. Serena’s skin looks a bit too blue/magenta-ish and all the colors are pretty washed out. The image looks cold. I want a warm, orange coloring.
There are a lot of was to get the result you want. I like to use color balance and selective color layers.

The idea is really simple.
- Get rid of the colors you don’t want.
- Oomph the colors you do want.

.03 I started with the color balance adjustment layer.
I wanted to get rid of the magentas but not achieve a green-ish coloring. So I raised the greens just a little bit (about +10 in the midtones).
Then I boosted the reds and yellows in both, the midtones and shadows.

.04 Next: the selective color adjustment layer.
I made most of my adjustments in the red and the yellow channel. Just keep doing what you did with the color balance layer. Keep boosting the yellows and reds.

Red and Yellow channel:
- took out some cyan
- added some yellow and black

I also made a few adjustments in the gray and black channel.

Grey channel:
- took out very little cyan (about -2%)
- added a little bit yellow (about 2%)
- added some black (this will give you icon a little more contrast)

Black channel:
- took out some cyan (this will give the black parts of your icon a red glow)
- added a little bit of yellow
- added a little bit of black (for more contrast)

What I have now is pretty close to the finished icon. Everything that follows now is just fine-tuning. The basic coloring is done.

Fine-Tuning

.05 I used a curves adjustment layer to brighten my icon a little bit. You can just as well go back to your screen layer and change its opacity. But I prefer using a curves layer because the screen layer might make the colors look a little washed out.
A vs. B
I used a curves layer in example A and raise the opacity of my screen layer in example B. It’s a subtle difference but the colors are a bit stronger in the first one.

Values for my curves layer:
Input: ~140
Output: ~150

.06 I used a hue/saturation layer to boost all the colors just a little bit more. I raised the saturation to about +5%

I then took to give my icon just a tiny bit of a blurry look.

I used the texture twice.
.07 First, I inverted the colors (Ctrl + I) of the texture and set it to screen, 33% opacity. This will make the icon even brighter but I’m about to fix that in the next two steps.

.08 I duplicated my base again, dragged it to the top and set this layer to soft light, 20% opacity – just to add a little more contrast.

.09 Then I took texture again. This time I used the original (not color inverted) version. I set it to color burn at 25%. This will make your colors look a lot stronger again.

.10 Then I added two fill layers
I filled my first one with a dark, brownish red (#320101) and set it to exclusion at 43%.
I filled the second one with a strong orange (#f2b013) and set it to color burn at 9%.
This will give your icon some kind of a muted look. I like it a lot

.11 I added a brightness/contrast layer and just added a tiny little bit of contrast (+2/+3) and took out a bit brightness (-2/-3).

.12 Then I selected all layers (Ctrl + A), copy-merged them (Ctrl + Shift + C) and pasted it in as a new layer on the top (Ctrl + V). I blurred this layer using the Gaussian blur filter. I set it to screen at 13%.

And done!