I believe that portraits should be as perfect as possible with lots of detail and let the subject's personality show through and be the focal point of the interest.  I find portraits to be very time-consuming, but full of rewords and challenges.  It might take me 3 hours to get the face just right, but once I have it, I step back and smile.  "Gotcha", I think to myself.  Then I move on to the teeth, the eyes, the lips, and on and on.