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Although there are many ways to approach this, the approach suggested by dv8 is most reasonable. 

One reason why you didn't get similar results is that you might have adjusted the upper set of three sliders, not the lower set of two sliders in the "Levels" dialog box.  Bringing in the upper end sliders will actually increase contrast, whereas bringing in the lower end sliders will lower contrast. 

Also, I felt that I was getting too much of a change in the face when making these adjustments, so I prevented this from happening by using a layer mask.  So, the attached images show:

1.  The layer stack that I used.

[ATTACH]49180[/ATTACH]

2.  The mask that I used to prevent the adjustments from affecting the face:

[ATTACH]49181[/ATTACH]

3.  A suitable setting for the sliders in the levels adjustment layer:

[ATTACH]49182[/ATTACH]

4.  The final result

HTH,

Tom M