If you’re a west coast girl who can’t stand to wear makeup just scroll on by
Armani Luminous Silk, applied with a beauty blender sponge. Expensive but goes a long way; medium-to-full buildable coverage for my rosacea. I apply over primer; like the Estee Lauder matte finish one since the Luminous Silk is glow-y. For a drugstore foundation, I like Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme applied with a brush. That stuff is sweatproof!
“If you’re a west coast girl who can’t stand to wear makeup just scroll on by”
This west coast girl who does not wear makeup checked in to give her recommendations of things that work great on older skin… and decided to scroll by. 
The biggest difference between young and old skin is the presence of wrinkles. Even the small, invisible ones can be enhanced to the size of the Grand Canyon with certain types of makeup. Powders are notoriously bad.
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer (which also has SPF). Just a hint of it, nothing like the “old days” of foundation all over your face. In general, the older I get, the less makeup I wear - it just doesn’t look as good on the skin.
I use Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer also - when I wear make-up.
Depends what you’re looking for, but I love Guerlain’s Lingerie de Peau foundation. It has a medium (not full) coverage. As I get older I find I can’t wear full coverage foundation. This is very natural on me and evens out my skin.
I recommend you go somewhere (Sephora, Department store) and try foundation on and wear it for several hours and see how you like it before you purchase. It’s easy to like something when it’s immediately applied, then an hour later see yourself in a mirror and realize the color’s off.
Tarte Amazonian Clay BB Tinted Moisturizer - light coverage that’s better than other tinted moisturizers I’ve tried while still looking natural, plus SPF 20. Not tested on animals.
I don’t wear foundation (or BB or CC creams) all that often but when I do, I find that using a primer first really helps. (Helps in keeping the foundation from settling in fine lines you didn’t even know you had, that is).
I use Smashbox Photo Finish primer. It is ridiculously, ludicrously expensive and a tube is used up very fast, so I don’t use it everyday, but it is great for special occasions.
I tried Laura Mercier, too and it’s not bad. I would definitely give it a try, has much more coverage than normal ones. I gave up on foundation years ago because it was settling into even fine wrinkles. I now use a tinted drug store moisturizer, And not sure it really does anything much, but still looks better than nothing.
OP here. Strangely, some of my post was lost. Specifically, due to my raccoon-like under eye circles, I use substantial concealer and need a foundation to cover, but…the two I just tried feel like wall spackling (tarte and IT CC+). I don’t think a tinted moisturizer will work. I guess I’ll have to go to the mall and try there, but so annoying when the clerks are only 25! I can’t afford many more $40 experiments at Ulta!
Do you live near a Sephora? You can set up an appointment for a consult. They stock lots of different brands and don’t work on commission. You do have to make a $50 purchase though.
They don’t have these everywhere, but if you have a Bluemercury near you, I highly recommend them. They have nice brands and importantly the sales people / makeup artists are not 25 yo’s who are into clubbing. They’re not beholden to specific brands the way a dept store person is.
OP, do you really need “good coverage” or are you just becoming more and more critical of what you see in the mirror?
Do you drink enough water during the day? Skin care starts from within. I definitely see a huge difference in how my face looks when I wake up dehydrated (it happened so often I now keep a bottle of water on the nightstand).
I highly recommend going to Nordstrom and walking around the makeup counters looking for a salesperson of a more mature age. Ask her for samples of products - they usually will bring some of other brands in addition to the brand they are selling. At my local Nordstrom, Chanel people are the most knowledgeable, and that brand has a bunch of good face products, too.
I rarely wear makeup, but when I do, I like mine fuss-free, and Chanel fits that bill. For example, this stuff is amazingly light and does not make wrinkles stand out, and for me, a bottle lasts a year:
http://www.chanel.com/en_US/fragrance-beauty/makeup-foundation-perfection-lumiere-123093/sku/123100
One caveat - I see that it is only available for light-skinned people.
The abovementioned Armani and this product both have options for dark-skinned women:
http://www.chanel.com/en_US/fragrance-beauty/makeup-les-beiges-les-beiges-140502
Don’t be shy to ask for samples and experiment!
I don’t wear it often, but when I do it’s Bobbi Brown tinted moisturizer applied with a brush.
Haha, I’m as west as you can get and no one sees me without my makeup! I have a port wine stain birthmark on the right side of my cheek, nose, and chin. The color match service at Sephora helped a ton, and I know for my skin long-wear is best for both my birthmark and not settling into my pores/wrinkles. I’ve ended-up with Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup. Over the 30 plus years I’ve been trying to cover this sucker up, I rarely stick with the same make-up, but this is my go-to for now. 
I noticed that you said that you use heavy eye concealer. If the concealer is heavy, it might be not very blendable with lighter face products. Maybe you need to experiment with eye stuff as well.
I was randomly sent this by Nordstrom when I ordered something. I tried it and loved the texture.
Again, it is only available for light skinned folks.
Oooh BB, those recommendations are so tempting and I’m a sucker for trying new things. I’m also a west coast girl who doesn’t wear much makeup on a regular basis. For me, a matte sunscreen works well. I use skinceuticals but there are others out there that are similar. I occasionally use concealer and at any age, you need to use only a teeny tiny bit for it to work. Get a good brush and blend it well.
I just googled the Trish McEvoy product and the recommended application method is a bit counter-intuitive so I thought I’d share this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2dabnrLdhU
I may try that V-shaped application method.
Apart from the concealer, she recommends serums and creams first for obvious reasons. I’ve never used a lot of products because I have super sensitive skin but I’m thinking I may need to start with the serums and eye creams, etc. Sigh.
I don’t have a ton of wrinkles but I’m definitely getting hollows under my eyes and puffy and droopy upper lids and it is aging.
I wear makeup and like to try new products. Currently I am liking Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream. It’s fairly light coverage, but I like the way it looks and feels. I find the staff at the Bare Minerals store (especially the gay guys) are GREAT at advising me and helping with colors. I use a light dusting of one of their powder bronzers in the summer, too.
I’m a west coast girl who never wore makeup till a year ago. Now I don’t go out without it. I don’t wear much and probably to most people they wouldn’t even know I had makeup on.
I first tried Ulta and bought things but always felt like they didn’t work. I wanted to even my skin tone but not look like I had foundation on. I liked The BB cream by Smashbox for the look but it made my eyes tear. I finally went to Nordstrom and found a great sales associate. She was the manager of the Laura Mercier counter. I told her my insecurities and she was great. She suggested she put some products on and that I go home and see how I felt. We did this several times till I found a few products that I could see myself using. The other great thing she did was telling me to bring in what I already had and she would help me figure out what worked. She also taught me how to apply the things I purchased. She also told me that if I needed more instructions to just keep coming back in.
I ended up with a Laura Mercier primer. Laura Mercier Silk creme moisturizing photo edition foundation. I apply it with a sponge. I already had a Tarte bronzer that she helped me learn how to apply so it looked natural. I finish it off with a loose setting powder.
What I loved about the experience was that she didn’t push me to buy anything. She was smart because I ended up coming back multiple times and eventually adding in lipstick which I also had never worn.
The problem I have with Sephora is that the sales people are usually young and heavily made up.