diff --git a/src/zen/boosts/ZenZapDissolve.sys.mjs b/src/zen/boosts/ZenZapDissolve.sys.mjs
index 25a2dd26d..860aff172 100644
--- a/src/zen/boosts/ZenZapDissolve.sys.mjs
+++ b/src/zen/boosts/ZenZapDissolve.sys.mjs
@@ -483,6 +483,7 @@ void main() {
    * Displays a dissolve effect for the element
    *
    * @param {Element} element The element to dissolve
+   * @param {Function} onComplete Callback for when the animation is complete
    */
   dissolve(element, onComplete) {
     if (!this.#initialized || this.#hasTriggered || !element) {
@@ -586,7 +587,7 @@ void main() {
       this.#rafId = null;
     }
 
-    if(this.#onComplete){
+    if (this.#onComplete) {
       this.#onComplete();
       this.#onComplete = null;
     }
diff --git a/src/zen/boosts/ZenZapOverlayChild.sys.mjs b/src/zen/boosts/ZenZapOverlayChild.sys.mjs
index dc9ea7bec..5635c0c4d 100644
--- a/src/zen/boosts/ZenZapOverlayChild.sys.mjs
+++ b/src/zen/boosts/ZenZapOverlayChild.sys.mjs
@@ -197,10 +197,10 @@ export class ZapOverlay {
             this.onZapUpdate();
 
             this.window.requestAnimationFrame(() => {
-              element.style.visibility = 'initial';
+              element.style.visibility = "initial";
             });
           });
-          element.style.visibility = 'hidden';
+          element.style.visibility = "hidden";
         });
       });
     } else {
diff --git a/src/zen/boosts/nsZenBoostsBackend.cpp b/src/zen/boosts/nsZenBoostsBackend.cpp
index e0f952e47..109eb6b51 100644
--- a/src/zen/boosts/nsZenBoostsBackend.cpp
+++ b/src/zen/boosts/nsZenBoostsBackend.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@
 
 #define COLOR_CHANNEL_MIDPOINT 128
 
+#if defined(__clang__) || defined(__GNUC__)
+#  define ZEN_HOT_FUNCTION __attribute__((hot))
+#else
+#  define ZEN_HOT_FUNCTION
+#endif
+
 // It's a bit of a hacky solution, but instead of using alpha as what it is
 // (opacity), we use it to store contrast information for now.
 // We do this primarily to avoid having to deal with WebIDL structs and
@@ -133,8 +139,9 @@ static inline float fastCbrt(float x) {
  * @return A struct containing the precomputed Oklab values and contrast factor
  * for the accent color.
  */
+ZEN_HOT_FUNCTION
 inline static auto zenPrecomputeAccent(nscolor aAccentColor) {
-  const float inv255 = 1.0f / 255.0f;
+  constexpr float inv255 = 1.0f / 255.0f;
 
   const float r = NS_GET_R(aAccentColor) * inv255;
   const float g = NS_GET_G(aAccentColor) * inv255;
@@ -170,9 +177,8 @@ inline static auto zenPrecomputeAccent(nscolor aAccentColor) {
  * contrast value).
  * @return The filtered color with transformations applied.
  */
-[[nodiscard]]
-static inline nscolor zenFilterColorChannel(nscolor aOriginalColor,
-                                            const nsZenAccentOklab& aAccent) {
+[[nodiscard]] ZEN_HOT_FUNCTION static inline nscolor zenFilterColorChannel(
+    nscolor aOriginalColor, const nsZenAccentOklab& aAccent) {
   const uint8_t oL = NS_GET_A(aOriginalColor);
   if (oL == 0) {
     return aOriginalColor;
@@ -180,7 +186,6 @@ static inline nscolor zenFilterColorChannel(nscolor aOriginalColor,
 
   const float inv255 = 1.0f / 255.0f;
   const float blendFactor = oL * inv255;
-  const float preserveFactor = 1.0f - aAccent.contrastFactor;
 
   // sRGB -> linear
   const float lr = srgbToLinear(NS_GET_R(aOriginalColor) * inv255);
@@ -206,10 +211,11 @@ static inline nscolor zenFilterColorChannel(nscolor aOriginalColor,
   const float fA = origA + (aAccent.accA - origA) * blendFactor;
   const float fB = origB + (aAccent.accB - origB) * blendFactor;
 
-  // Luminance: preserve spread at low contrast, flatten at high
-  const float deltaL = origL - aAccent.accL;
-  const float baseL = origL + (aAccent.accL - origL) * blendFactor;
-  const float fL = std::clamp(baseL + deltaL * preserveFactor, 0.0f, 1.0f);
+  // Luminance: at low contrast stay near the original, the higher the contrast,
+  // the more we shift toward the accent luminance, but we never go fully to
+  // the accent luminance to preserve some of the original color's character.
+  const float fL = origL + (aAccent.accL - origL) *
+                               (blendFactor * aAccent.contrastFactor * 0.5f);
 
   // Oklab -> LMS
   const float fl_ = fL + 0.3963377774f * fA + 0.2158037573f * fB;
@@ -245,6 +251,7 @@ static inline nscolor zenFilterColorChannel(nscolor aOriginalColor,
  * @param aColor The color to invert.
  * @return The inverted color with luminance preservation.
  */
+ZEN_HOT_FUNCTION
 inline static nscolor zenInvertColorChannel(nscolor aColor) {
   const auto r = NS_GET_R(aColor);
   const auto g = NS_GET_G(aColor);
@@ -274,6 +281,7 @@ inline static nscolor zenInvertColorChannel(nscolor aColor) {
 /**
  * @brief Retrieves the current boost data from the browsing context.
  */
+ZEN_HOT_FUNCTION
 inline static void GetZenBoostsDataFromBrowsingContext(
     ZenBoostData* aData, bool* aIsInverted,
     nsPresContext* aPresContext = nullptr) {
@@ -323,8 +331,9 @@ auto nsZenBoostsBackend::onPresShellEntered(mozilla::dom::Document* aDocument)
   mCurrentBrowsingContext = browsingContext;
 }
 
-auto nsZenBoostsBackend::FilterColorFromPresContext(nscolor aColor,
-                                                    nsPresContext* aPresContext)
+[[nodiscard]] ZEN_HOT_FUNCTION auto
+nsZenBoostsBackend::FilterColorFromPresContext(nscolor aColor,
+                                               nsPresContext* aPresContext)
     -> nscolor {
   if (!XRE_IsContentProcess()) {
     // Zen boosts are only supported in content, so if we somehow end up here
@@ -353,8 +362,8 @@ auto nsZenBoostsBackend::FilterColorFromPresContext(nscolor aColor,
   return aColor;
 }
 
-auto nsZenBoostsBackend::ResolveStyleColor(mozilla::StyleAbsoluteColor aColor)
-    -> mozilla::StyleAbsoluteColor {
+[[nodiscard]] ZEN_HOT_FUNCTION auto nsZenBoostsBackend::ResolveStyleColor(
+    mozilla::StyleAbsoluteColor aColor) -> mozilla::StyleAbsoluteColor {
   if (aColor.alpha == 0) {
     // Skip processing fully transparent colors since they won't be visible and
     // we want to avoid unnecessary computations. This also prevents issues with
diff --git a/src/zen/boosts/zen-advanced-color-options.css b/src/zen/boosts/zen-advanced-color-options.css
index 052f76b30..8c3285c11 100644
--- a/src/zen/boosts/zen-advanced-color-options.css
+++ b/src/zen/boosts/zen-advanced-color-options.css
@@ -41,4 +41,3 @@
 #zen-boost-advanced-color-options-panel input::-moz-range-thumb:active {
   background-color: #cbcad0;
 }
-
diff --git a/src/zen/spaces/ZenGradientGenerator.mjs b/src/zen/spaces/ZenGradientGenerator.mjs
index 7e73f9939..b4a704fda 100644
--- a/src/zen/spaces/ZenGradientGenerator.mjs
+++ b/src/zen/spaces/ZenGradientGenerator.mjs
@@ -1762,7 +1762,13 @@ export class nsZenThemePicker extends nsZenMultiWindowFeature {
     });
 
     // Notify observers that gradient updated
-    Services.obs.notifyObservers(null, "zen-space-gradient-update");
+    // note: We just notify if we are not skipping the update,
+    //   because otherwise, it can get pretty laggy if we notify on every change
+    //   when the user is dragging a dot.
+    // TODO(cheff): We should probably find a better way to handle this
+    if (!skipUpdate) {
+      Services.obs.notifyObservers(null, "zen-space-gradient-update");
+    }
   }
 
   fixTheme(theme) {