i do always have this problem frequently when i model. i feel like the diffuse texture is too "clean" looking, so i put detail in the diffuse that conflicts and fights for attention with the normalmap. as far as the wax goes, thats halfway an issue with the fact that blender doesnt use typical tangent normalmaps right (it maps z differently) and the fact that i havent even started the spec map.

tis a work in process. though it will look better.