I like to practice my hover at or below eye level.
DO NOT do this close to your face! Just the fact that you're beginning will lend itself to crash induced damage. You might not know you've weakened a prop, but it could let go just as you're admiring your new skills flying at eye level a few feet from your head. One of those props lets go and smacks into you, or the aircraft flips over into your head/body, you won't be happy.
Then the transition into forward flight and back to hover. I find it's easier when starting to just go away from yourself, then back up towards yourself.
When you're more comfortable with that, bring it to a hover, turn it 90 degrees, and then go perpendicular to yourself. Turn 180 degrees, and bring it back in front of you. As you get more comfortable with that, then go straight out, turn 180, come back, turn 180 again, and land.
One of the more difficult things is maintaining the same altitude throughout a circuit. You'll be constantly on the throttle.
Then keeping it level.
Then I'd do all of this higher. Unlike an airplane, being two mistakes high can actually be worse.
Once you're comfortable with that, I'd work on fast transitions from forward flight to hover. Then putting yourself in awkward flight conditions, and recovering.
Then if you're feeling stunty.... get some altitude, and do what you want to do.