1. Open up an image you wish to apply the soft blur to.
    1. Duplicate the layer and make the bottom layer black and white (Adjust > Desaturate).
    2. Now duplicate the black and white layout twice.
    You should now have 3 black and white layers along with the original image at the top.
  3. Go to the bottom layer and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur: 5.0.
  4. Now do the same to the layer on top, but this time set the blur to 3.0.
  5. Again repeat for the last black and white layer but set the blur to 1.0.
  6. Set the two middle layers to Mode: Soft Light.
    1. Set the original picture/layer to Mode: Soft Light
    2. Mess around with all the layers' brightness and contrast settings (Image > Adjust > Brightness/Contrast) until it looks good for you.
Original Image
Final (Custom Settings)