For starters, cover up discoloration that you may have. Reduce redness or yellow tones with colored concealers to neutralize the imperfection color that you suffer from. I wrote about new ways of using concealer in one of my older posts that you can read here.

If you struggle with imperfections, apply a small amount od concealer on a small brush or fingertip then straight onto your imperfection. Merge with the skin by tapping it lightly on the skin. Don't spread colored concealers to a larger area because the colors have a different effect on the normal toned skin that doesn't suffer from discoloration. For serious skin imperfections such as broken capillaries, scars and veins try using a corrector intended for more coverage. I wrote several excellent tips about that in my recent article.

Use color wheel and colors that are opposite to each other. Color theory says you can cover up redness with green correctors, purple and blue shades with the pink color. Salmon color reduces blue tones, yellows reduce purples and for moderate redness and grey tones with yellow correctors.

If you suffer from extremely large dark circles, apply concealer to the under eye area before applying liquid foundation. If you don't need high coverage, leave this step for later. If by any chance you don't have concealers, apply a small amount of liquid foundation and focus it on a specific area. Blend the edges with other parts of the face.

After careful masking of imperfections, apply primer solely on parts of your face where you need it the most. If you suffer from oily T-zone, for example, apply it only on the T-zone. Eve Lom Flawless Radiance primer, Armani Fluid Master Primer, Elemis Pro Radiance Flash Balm Iluminator. 

Applying liquid foundation comes right after this primer. Depending on which type of coverage you want or need, choose the one that suits you best. Weather you choose light coverage or heavy coverage, application starts from the middle of the face. Apply it on the nose and around your nose and start blending outwards in a slow movement. Take whatever is left on the brush and apply it  on the ears and under chin to match the color and blend perfectly. Shade of your face and neck should be the same. You can check my foundation recommendations for dry and oily skin by click on links. 

You can reduce redness on the eyelids by applying foundation over the eyelids or you can choose eyeshadow base/primer.

Make sure you are following all the steps of application. Take a look in the mirror in natural light, so you make sure that everything is perfectly blended.

With one shade darker powder, concealer or foundation, contour the face and even it out. I mentioned my favorite contouring stick in this post.

Lighter shades accentuate highest points of the face.

Apply highlighter on your forehead, down the nose and just above the highest point of the lips for greater glow effect. I recommended some great highlighters in this post in case you missed it. 

Tools for powder and foundation application are usually brushes. I recommend flat foundation brush for applying liquid foundation. I just love Beautyblender, popular sponge with which you can apply any liquid, cream, compact and powder products. If you don't know how to use Beautyblender, please, check this article.

Make everything stay in place by apply fixing spray or loose powder. If you are on a look aout for perfect compact powders for a perfect complexion, check it right here.