What do you guys use? How many steps do you take?
I did a search on youtube and came accross a very interesting video. There is a company called Reaper which makes paints for figures, mostly for the WarHammer gaming line, but they have a really nice system for doing fleshtones. They sell their paints in "Triads" basically 3 different shades of one particular color. The one from the video shows "Rosy Skin", "Rosy Shadow", and "Rosy Highlight". Basically you aplly the darkest color to the entire head (1 drop of paint mixed with one drop of water), then go to the next lighter shade (1 drop paint, 1 drop of water) and apply it to the high areas cheek bones, forehead, etc, then go to the next light shade and hit the high areas again.
Finally you finish with a special wash called Citadel, "Ogryn Flesh Wash", which is a reddish thin wash.
The video is 2 parts, i'll post them at the bottom. The paint is dirt cheap too. I found the 3 rosy colors for $7.29 (all 3) and the ogryn wash for $3.29. I'm sure there is enough paint to do maybe 1,000 figures, lol.
I know it is originally for a different character, but the final result looks pretty damn good. BTW, the painter doesn't do eyes so you'll have to improvise that part, lol.
Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO_36fcAR6k
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWRtL63SKJE
If you fast forward to the end of the second video he has a bunch of still shots where you can really see the detail.