My Oblivion Altmer looks like a snow elf because I could make her as pale as I like, and I didn't know a thing about lore back then... That being said do I wish for more ranged options in character generation? No, I like certain limits they set to the races, each race should look distinct enough with only mild outliers that don't cross too much with other races. It's much clear cut and better this way, if you can make every race look the same, or has the potential to look the same, what's the point of the race in TES? Racial attributes are already nerfed, but at least now they have more distinctive appearances. So at least we still got something.

Yes, I found the chargen to rather basic and disappointing. Was hoping for a procedure that improved and expanded Oblivion's face generator and found instead a tool more limited in customization. Felt like the fixed faces of the first three game with makeup kit.

Guess I'm the 1 in 10.

I only wear a helmet while getting my Smithing and Armor ratings up. Once I can get a decent score, I ditch it.

I too ditch the helmet most of the time. There's also mods out there that make helmets invisible.

Or, you know, you're not actually in the thick of things yourself and don't have to worry about having your face smashed in.

Not to mention Restoration magic.

That said, it would be neat if there were some scarification feature implemented into the game. Or getting dirty and being able to reverse it.

I do like that faces look better but I prefer Oblivion's character creator. You had much more freedom with that system where as with Skyrim all Bretons have to be rounded, Imperials square faced, etc. I don't have that problem in Oblivion.

You can change this in the CK, by creating your character directly in it and making it a preset. Use an existing Snow Elf character and change his features til they fit what you want for your character. Then there is a box to tick somewhere that says "use as preset" or something like that and give it the ID of an existing Altmer preset (you must do that so that it shows in the selection when you'll launch the game). As for me, here is my asnwer: http://i.imgur.com/MHx0bAm.jpg