An image processing application performs improved face exposure correction on an input image. The image processing application receives an input image having a face and ascertains a median luminance associated with a face region corresponding to the face. The image processing application determines whether the median luminance is less than a threshold luminance. If the median luminance is less than the threshold luminance, the application computes weights based on a spatial distance parameter and a similarity parameter associated with the median chrominance of the face region. The image processing application then computes a corrected luminance using the weights and applies the corrected luminance to the input image. The image processing application can also perform improved face color correction by utilizing stylization-induced shifts in skin tone color to control how aggressively stylization is applied to an image.