Like someone mentioned, that weird glowy sheen is basically the signature of bad AI training and it drives me nuts too. Honestly, after messing with these tools for years, it is disappointing to see that even with the latest updates we are still fighting the same plastic skin issues. I went through this exact same anxiety last year for a print commission... I spent weeks trying to get a raw unfiltered look and kept failing because the models are just too biased toward beauty standards. Unfortunately, most of these browser-based tools prioritize looking pretty over looking real. If you're on a deadline, you cant really afford to wait for a perfect seed that might never happen. What I have had to do is move away from the one-click mindset. I usually grab a base from Adobe Firefly Image 3 Professional because its training data is a bit more grounded for commercial work, but then I always have to run it through Magnific AI Image Upscaler. Magnific is basically the only thing that saves my skin textures. It actually hallucinates pores and slight imperfections that the base models smooth over. It is pricey, but for a gallery display, you need that extra layer of detail. Reliability is the biggest concern with web tools tho, so just be aware that these platforms change their algorithms constantly. I would also suggest a final pass in Topaz Photo AI 3.0 to fix any weird blurring. It is a lot of work but frankly, it is the only way to get something that doesnt scream AI from across the room.

You might want to consider Leonardo AI PhotoReal V2 Web App since it handles skin texture better than Midjourney V6.0 AI Generator defaults, tbh. I would suggest using Krea AI Enhancer 4K Upscaler to add back fine pores if things look too smooth. Be careful with high stylization values; make sure to use --style raw to kill that plastic glow, otherwise you just get that doll effect every time.

Re: "You might want to consider Leonardo AI PhotoReal..." - yeah, Leonardo is okay, but I've been way more satisfied with the output from the newer flux models lately. I spent about forty hours last month testing different architectures for a "raw photography" series and honestly, I was about to give up on AI portraits too because of that same plastic look you're seeing. I eventually moved over to Black Forest Labs Flux.1 Pro API via a web interface and the difference in how it handles the latent space is honestly wild. Midjourney always tries to "beautify" everything by default, which is why you get that plastic glow, but the 12B parameter Flux models actually respect prompts for imperfections. I was so happy when I finally saw actual skin blemishes and realistic subsurface scattering that didn't look like a porcelain doll.

• The flow-matching tech provides way better anatomical accuracy than standard diffusion models.
• It renders distinct hair strands and micro-pores without that weird AI "shimmer" on the forehead.
• Since it is browser-based, you wont kill your laptop's GPU or deal with cooling fans. No complaints on my end... it just works well for high-fidelity stuff. If you're on a tight deadline for that gallery, maybe check out Fal.ai Flux.1 Dev Hosted Inference. It saved my sanity on a recent project where I needed 4k realistic headshots by Friday. It's night and day compared to MJ v6 for actual realism.

Regarding what #3 said about "Like someone mentioned, that weird glowy sheen is..." - honestly I feel that. I spent months working on a project last year and almost threw my laptop out the window because everyone looked like they were made of wax. I was so paranoid about the quality that I ended up doing everything in tiny steps just to keep it from looking fake. You might want to consider being very careful with any auto-fix settings. In my current setup, I found that if I let the web tool do its own thing, it always defaults to that perfectionist look which is exactly what we dont want. I would suggest staying far away from anything labeled beauty or portrait mode because they usually just add more of that plastic glow. Make sure to keep your denoising settings way lower than you think. I learned that the hard way when a render I actually liked turned into a blurred mess after I tried to enhance it... kinda heartbreaking. It is all about being conservative with the tools so you dont lose the skin texture. Just be careful with those realistic toggles tho, they usually just make the sheen even worse.

Ok adding this to my list of things to try. Thanks for the tip!