"Galaxy Sunset Highlighting" Is a Thing, and It Turns You Into a Sexy Space Princess

The woman who brought us flare highlighter is back and brighter than ever. So bright, in fact, that you might see her from outer space. And that reference is apt, considering she dubbed her latest technique "Galaxy Sunset Highlighting." The rainbow look is so out of this world that I'm having an existential crisis — is it too late for me to become an astronaut? I want to go up in space and chill with sparkly hot pink aliens like her.

As the artist, who goes by the Instagram handle thestudyofmakeup, told Allure, the full look began with applying the orange shade of BH Cosmetics Take Me to Brazil Palette on her cheekbones. She swiped the palette's magenta on over that, and then layered a purple followed by an electric blue.

Those are just shadows, so to get her glow really going, she topped the powders with the blogger-favorite highlighter Artist Couture Coco Bling ($27) and classic Lime Crime Highlight Opals ($42). According to thestudyofmakeup, "That's what creates the blown-out starry look."

But wait, ye aliens! That's not the end of it. Thestudyofmakeup had one more trick up her extraterrestrial sleeve. (If aliens wear sleeves? @NASA, help.) As Allure reported, she mixed a "glittery paste concoction" made from the aforementioned Coco Bling highlighter with setting spray and applied it over her cheekbones via a thin liner brush. She calls this technique "starburst," but I prefer to call it "pink Starbust," because we all know those are the best kind, and this look deserves only the finest.