The best skin colors I ever got were with a D3x and C1 using the linear profile. I think that the use of the linear profile can make a big difference. Other tone curves tend to cause "bunching" in the skin tones, something that is almost impossible to fix. LR does not seem to have quite the same linearity in its "camera neutral" profile. The "portrait" profiles in both C1 and LR, while doing less damage than the "standard" profiles, is far from ideal.
I absolutely agree, the linear profile is the way to go. And yes, LR's linear is not exactly linear. My problem with C1 was a color shift towards "warm" in the skin tones (using a D800), which didn't entirely go away with linear processing. The latest profiles might be better, though.
And, in order not to take this thread all over the place, some recent portrait work.