Funny, in this case I really enjoy the naturalness - unprocessed look of the first one a lot. I do like the concentrated, almost intense, look of the eyes here, almost in contrast to the rest of the smiling face.
Interesting redo.
I like that she is smiling in this one but I think the original is better. I'd like to have seen this as a vertical portrait that would not cut off so much of her face. The pixelation is too high (or it was too noisy of a photo) and maybe there is some blur? I hope you put in your photog notes what you wanted to change for this time around - I'm curious to read about it.
This is a faithful re-creation, but unfortunately, I don't think it was improved upon. I like how the original's had a little wider crop, and more pleasing colors (warmer).