Hm... thanks for that, eck! I'd like to say that I also take notice of the face issues and have already tweaked it a bit since this one (chin was too far out, for example).
As far as colors go, I'll say for now that I was planning on upping it to 16 whenever I start doing final touches. On the color choices themselves, there's nothing I can really say. It's a mixture of instinct and ritualistic decision-making on my part. I'll take the palette you've created for a test run and see how I like it, though! I've been told about having issues with contrasting colors before, so you're definitely not the first.