Blue light protection is back in the spotlight. According to Future Market Insights (FMI), the market for ingredients offering blue light protection is expanding steadily (CAGR 8.6% from 2025-2035) due to the growing use of digital devices and increasing concern that the light they emit can damage skin.
Per FMI, manufacturers offering ingredients for blue light protection are focused on multifunctional solutions for protection, combining antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. These types of ingredients are present in numerous skin care products, including Bubble's Slam Dunk Hydrating Moisturizer.
While this product is marketed mainly as a hydrating moisturizer, and its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredients are listed as added benefits, to me, what makes it stand out is its additional claim for providing blue light protection.
Bubble Slam Dunk Hydrating Moisturizer
Bubble's Slam Dunk Hydrating Moisturizer is described as a luxurious cream designed to provide deep, restorative hydration for normal to dry skin types. Its thick texture reportedly ensures a rich application that leaves the skin feeling nourished, protected and revitalized.
The moisturizer is formulated with a blend of plant-based ingredients that per the company, work together to promote healthy, glowing skin.
Aloe leaf juice soothes, moisturizes and protects the skin with its antioxidant properties.
Vitamin E combats free radicals, shields against environmental stressors and supports skin cell health.
Avocado oil is used to nourish and soften dry skin, and reduce redness.
Hoya lacunosa flower extract enhances the skin’s natural radiance while providing a calming effect.
In addition, the formula includes a "superfood protein" (not specified) to help protect against and repair blue light damage. While this is a secondary label claim, it's interesting to see blue light protection mentioned on the product website.
The moisturizer is additionally cruelty-free, vegan and free from alcohol, parabens and fragrances, making it a choice for clean skin care. It is dermatologist-tested and made in the USA, and is available in two sizes —1.0 fl oz and 1.7 fl oz — priced at $16 for a one-time purchase, with a subscription option offering a 10% discount.
Ingredients: Bubble Slam Dunk Hydrating Moisturizer
Following is the ingredient disclosure.
Water (Aqua), Isononyl Isononanoate, Glycerin, Heptyl Undecylenate, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Polyglyceryl-3 Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Glucose, Hydrolyzed Pea Protein, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Succinate, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Hoya Lacunosa Flower Extract, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Arginine, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopherol, Sodium Phytate, Phenoxyethanol.
*Ingredients are listed as shown on the company website as of Dec. 4, 2025.
User Reviews: Bubble Slam Dunk Hydrating Moisturizer
Also following are example user reviews (edited for style), selected for their anecdotal insights on product form and function.
It’s moisturizing and gives an amazing shine to my skin
It’s the perfect thickness and leaves my skin feeling ready for the day
Not too thick and not too light, so hydrating and helps my random zits
Hydrates my skin and makes it plump and soft. Love the performance of this hydrating mixture
Super hydrating, easy to layer and leaves my skin soft, glowy and happy.
So hydrating and refreshing
Makes me feel moisturized without feeling too thick or making me oily/dry
It goes on super smooth and feels really calming
The Blue Light Damage Cascade
While the industry has debated whether blue light protection is a true market need or a marketing "embellishment," evidence of blue light's negative impact in skin continues to mount. For example, work published in April 2025 in BioFactors revealed that depending on the duration of exposure, blue light irradiation reduced cell viability and increased the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in HaCaT cells. Interestingly, the study also showed how melatonin can mitigate these effects.
Giacomoni highlighted a few years ago in C&T that visible light is not an inert entity. "Via photochemical reactions, for example, visible light can affect the stability or duration of a particular shade of hair dye," he wrote. "Perhaps more concerning, though, are molecules in skin that are photosensitizers. These can either be endogenously produced — e.g., protoporphyrins and phaeomelanin — or taken up in the form of xenobiotics such as riboflavin," he continued.
From there, upon the absorption of a visible photon, these molecules can transfer an electron or their energy to molecular oxygen, thus generating the free radical superoxide anion or very reactive singlet oxygen — and oxygen-free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known to provoke the peroxidative cascade of lipids.
Per Giacomoni, "[this cascade] can alter the structure of the lipid bilayers in the cell membranes, therefore provoking cell death, necrosis and the consequent inflammatory reaction." He concluded that one could therefore consider visible light to be a potential factor in aging, insofar as it provokes inflammation and subsequent age-accelerating inflammatory phenomena.
An Aside: Is Blue Light Protection Special?
Giacomoni noted, however, that the use of foundations and makeup composed of visible materials hinders part of the potentially harmful action of visible light on skin. And much of the evidence we've seen indicates blue light damage is mainly caused by free radicals and inflammation. So one would think that any product that addresses these concerns could claim blue light protection. This makes me wonder: how special is this claim, really?
