Looking for direction and self in painting

I've been thinking that I need to make another self portrait painting for awhile now.  I think I've been considering making one since last year.  It's now the end of 2015 so I've been thinking about this for a long time.
The reason I have been wanting to make a self portrait again is that I feel like if I make one it's like I'm looking at myself and taking inventory of where I am. So here's a look at where I was and where I am now.

This is a self portrait I made I believe in the winter of 2006/2007.  I think this one has a sense of depth of thought in the area of the eyes and around the eyes.  The bright red parts make me think of a sense of vitality and feeling.  

This is the self portrait I just made (2015).  This painting looks more technical and matter-of-fact to me.  I wanted to add my braid into this portrait because I feel like it's part of how people would identify me visually.  It's normally behind me so I don't see it but other people see it.

I was more interested in the layering of the skin this time. I spent time smoothing out the layers of colors as I added them for the skin.  I think part of the reason I was focused on the skin is that skin is often a way that we convey the age of a person.  I can see that the creases by my mouth have developed more and the furrow between my eyebrows has slightly more depth.