Aesthetics General Thoughts on My Faceup Progress?

They look really good! The only thing I would have to recommend is maybe more sealant layers to build up the pastel opacity.

 

For your pastels: I recommend getting an exacto knife and scrape the dust off. That way you can use it as a powder instead making it easier to use.
And for water color pencils, I kind of use them the same as you would for water colors. I don't actually draw on them either, I'll wet them and dip my paintbrush into them. I end up with more vibrant colors that way.
I will ALSO do that with pastels. Scrape some pastel into a little thing of water and create my own paints to get the right colors to flow/match with my blushing.
I'm far from a professional, but these are just tips I've picked up learning myself.

But I can tell you're coming along, so keep at it!

 

I can definitely see an improvement in both technique and color choices, nice work! My only real criticism is how shiny they are. Is there a reason you don't use spray sealant? Not only is it actually matte, but it won't chip easily and you will have an easier time applying pastels and watercolors. :3 There is already a learning curve with faceups, and struggling with the materials just makes it more frustrating.

 

I've done face-ups with sponged-on sealant before. The matte medium holds the pastel/pencil well but it's kind of shiny and tacky. What I did was a combination of Liquitex matte medium and matte varnish. The varnish has a better finish. You should be able to use pencils (without pushing too hard), but you need to give the sealant a while to dry. Acrylic paint is probably a better choice for this than watercolor.

Otherwise I think you're on the right track! You'll probably want to use a spray eventually, for cleaner/crisper results, but you're getting some good practice in this way.

 

No tips beyond what others have said (well-- except to add that if you don't have a craft knife/X-acto handy, you can scrape pastels with a butter knife too, it's just far more tedious), but I can definitely see your improvement. It looks like you're making good progress with it, and once you've got the tools and the techniques, it's really just practice...

(that last pic is so cute, with the green eyebrows, btw!)

 

Adding to the suggestions for working with pastels: they should scrape off into a fine powder on their own, but if the pastels are old, low quality, or just a quirky batch, they might end up coming off in bigger chunks. If they do, you can gently smash or 'chop' them into powder with a blunt edged knife. Just be sure to do this against a non-porous surface, like smooth safety glass or acrylic plastic! If you do it against paper or a textured surface you'll just end mashing your pastels into the crevices.