Bagginsbill this is beyond perfect, thanks. These threads are very informative and the screenshots were EXACTLY what I was looking for.

 

***Quote - This is important - I summarized in that thread what I saw as the differences. Before you go doing all my work again, you should recognize that you're going to see problems with the subsurfaceskin node as follows:***A quick review of the differences, I would say:
The specularity is the biggest difference. I could not tune the one to match the other. The response to changes in angle are just altogether different. The KS_Microfacet embedded in the SSS acts more like the Glossy node, producing a sharper, flatter highlight. I'm not for or against it, but I'm sure not used to it. This is my assessment when seeing the skin front-lit. When you see it lit from behind, the rim lighting of the Blinn is far more realistic. But I'm not showing that here.
The scatter color of SSS is distinctly not red. It is the color of Caucasian skin. The scatter color of Scatter set to Skin1 or Skin2 is distinctly red.
Also, the attenuation of scattering in the SSS node is about half the default of Scatter / Skin1 or Skin2. I actually came to realize that the default scale (1.0) of the Scatter node gives too much scatter, although it is the right color, IMO. So I increased the Scatter scale to 1.75

Quote - and got much better results. It looked a lot less "waxy".

Oh i see... I'm definitely trying to avoid the waxy look.

Quote - Comparing the back-lit scatter (glowing ears) the SSS node is almost a total loser compared to the Scatter node. But, again, I did not demonstrate that here.
So - front lit, I'd say these two are both good - use whatever you like.
For rim lit, or back lit, it's not even close. I will demo those, too, when I have time.
[Edit] Oh, one other difference - the SSS node makes bump disappear more than Scatter does. Fine bump details are harder to see with the SSS node. In other words, its response is less dependent on the direction to the light source. Good or bad? I don't know. The bump maps we use in Poser are so far from reality I have no idea which response is more correct.

I need some coffee and i'll meditate on the above advice for an hour or two and experiment.  ***

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