However, none of these new versions address the worst issues:
You're not thinking about lighting. What's your light source? What's the imagined 3D form that the light is hitting, where can it reach (lit parts), and where can it not reach (shadows)? You seem to be placing your darker colours through some logic other than light/shadow.

For example, is that a nose or a cheek?

The clothing doesn't make a lot of sense. It could be something real technically, but it doesn't look it, and as a result looks like a mistake. What is the big blue thing, how does it attach? Why does the skirt have a corner on the bottom? What are the white triangles on the skirt?


A nitpick I have is that you have outlines that are lighter than the colours they're containing. This can give an interesting, surreal look, but is generally something you want to avoid.


Another minor issue, not with the pixel art, but with the character design: The choice of blue elements on the dress isn't an effective one, in my opinion. Since everything else is purple, the blue parts stand out and look important... but why are they important? Colours that are used infrequently but are still very easy to notice generally become "accent colours", drawing attention to themselves. You can use this to your advantage by highlighting the important parts of the character, but here it seems you chose the blue without thinking about it. In the earlier draft, it wasn't as noticeable because the blue was so similar to the purple.
Consider making the blue here more of a cool purple. That way you'll still have some interesting colour variation, but it won't stand out as much.