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Skincare girlies, fear not \u2014 your moisturizer probably does not attract spiders.<\/p>\n
Sol de Janeiro\u2019s Del\u00edcia Drench Body Butter, which launched earlier this month, is quickly becoming a holy grail product among skincare enthusiasts. In addition to hyaluronic acid, the lotion is packed with flashy ingredients like copaiba resin, passionflower seed oil and prebiotic hibiscus to lock in moisture and soothe parched, \u201clackluster\u201d skin, according to the brand\u2019s website<\/a>. Scented with velvet plum, vanilla orchid and sandalwood for a \u201cmind-boosting experience\u201d and packaged in cute violet jars, the $48 body butter is sure to be a staple in beauty hauls and GRWM videos<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sol de Janeiro went viral on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit this week after users claimed they were hunted, bitten and (unsuccessfully) courted by wolf spiders when they applied the brand\u2019s new moisturizer. While the body butter may be irresistible to humans, it\u2019s unlikely that it\u2019s sexually arousing to lonely arachnids.<\/p>\n Catherine Scott, a spider behavioral ecologist and postdoctoral fellow at McGill University\u2019s Lyman Lab, told TechCrunch that wolf spider mating involves visual and vibratory signaling, not just scents.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have excellent vision (for spiders) and they would not simply run toward the source of an odor, even if it did smell like a potential mate, unless it also looked like a spider,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The product began gaining popularity in beauty circles when early reviews lauded it for its hydrating properties and irresistible fragrance, but went viral on mainstream social media this week after a Sephora reviewer known as chemkats claimed that the scent \u201cattracts wolf spiders.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to love them sooo bad, but one of the ingredients is like kryptonite to wolf spiders! When I put it on instantly one will come out,\u201d the reviewer wrote.<\/p>\n They added that they\u2019d normally see one \u201cevery like 3 years,\u201d but since using the lotion, said they began seeing wolf spiders \u201cevery day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh and one time, the spider wanted to eat whatever ingredient it is so bad that it chased me,\u201d chemkats continued. \u201cLike it was legit following the scent.\u201d<\/p>\n One person claimed that a wolf spider bit them after they used their wife\u2019s lotion. Another Sephora reviewer wrote, \u201cSpiders love it, so do the people in the elevator.\u201d A Reddit user said<\/a> they put another product from the brand \u2014 known as \u201cBrazilian Bum Bum Cream\u201d \u2014 on a tissue, and a different brand\u2019s lotion on a different tissue, and that spiders only appeared to be interested in the tissue with Sol de Janeiro\u2019s product.<\/p>\n Scott noted that the phrase \u201cwolf spider\u201d can apply to an \u201centire family of spiders\u201d scientifically named Lycosidae. What many people might mistake as \u201cwolf spiders\u201d are likely house spiders in the Agelenidae family, which behave and chemically interact differently.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If the users did correctly identify their arachnid pursuers as wolf spiders, it\u2019s \u201ctechnically possible\u201d that the lotion could contain compounds that spiders might investigate because they think they\u2019re following chemical cues associated with prey.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut the story about the spider chasing the person wearing it does not hold up,\u201d she continued. \u201cThis sound typical of when people are moving a lot near a spider and it is frightened, so it tries to run for cover, often into the person\u2019s shadow \u2014 which makes the person think it is \u2018attacking\u2019 when in fact it is trying to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n Wolf spiders are \u201cvisual hunters,\u201d and would only try to prey on a target smaller of them, she said, and they don\u2019t feed on human blood, so they generally don\u2019t have any reason to approach humans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The original reviewer\u2019s story is especially dubious because they\u2019ve left similar Sephora reviews about beauty products attracting spiders, including a nearly identical one on another Sol de Janeiro product<\/a> in March this year.\u00a0In 2022 reviews<\/a> of two different BondiBoost products<\/a>, chemkats claimed that spiders kept landing on their head because of the products\u2019 fragrance.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they\u2019re just trying to have fun, or if they truly have a grievance with Sol de Janeiro is uncertain,\u201d a Reddit user wrote in a thread<\/a> warning others about chemkats. \u201cWhat [is] clear is that they\u2019re trying to spread misinformation \u2026 I know that it\u2019s been fun and games, but I just wanted to nip this in the bud before it gets even bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n But hysteria over the body butter has already spread, and many online \u2014 including news outlets \u2014 quoted a Reddit comment<\/a> about the \u201cpheromones\u201d in the product. In response to a thread asking about the body butter, a Reddit user posited that the chemicals in the Sol de Janeiro\u2019s product are also found in spider pheromones, and that the right combination of those compounds \u201cmight bring all the thirsty boy spiders to your yard.\u201d<\/p>\n The commenter appeared to cite a 2009 paper<\/a> that identified compounds in the webs of sexually receptive female spiders, indicating \u201cpossible pheromone components.\u201d The researchers also found that a combination of two of the identified compounds, farnesyl acetate and hexadecyl acetate, attracted male spiders.\u00a0Both compounds are used in cosmetic products for fragrance and texture \u2014 just not in the viral body butter.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of our products, including our new Del\u00edcia Drench Body Butter and upcoming Cheirosa 59 Perfume Mist are free from farnesyl acetate, diisobutyl phthalate, and hexadecyl acetate,\u201d Sol de Janeiro said in an Instagram Story<\/a> posted Thursday. \u201cSo while they may attract a lot of attention from people, they won\u2019t from arachnids (even though we love all creatures at Sol de Janeiro. Hope that clears up any concerns and Happy 2024!\u201d<\/p>\n Even if the products did contain those compounds, as many cosmetic products do, the paper only identified components in the female-products sex pheromone of a specific species of spider, Scott said. Pheromones are used for members of the same species to communicate with each other and provide species-specific information like age, sex and previous mating experience.<\/p>\n \u201cMany spider pheromones used for sexual communication are short-range and require direct contact, with the spider essentially \u2018tasting\u2019 the silk or body of another individual to determine if it is the correct species and sex before approaching and attempting to court and mate,\u201d Scott added.<\/p>\n In other words, the compounds that would attract one species of spider wouldn\u2019t attract another, like wolf spiders or house spiders.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we are more likely talking about here are kairomones, which are info-chemicals produced by one species (like an insect pheromone, intended for communication between males and females of that species) used by another species (a spider) which is not the intended recipient of the chemical message,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n Some wolf spiders, for example, user kairomones to avoid larger spiders that might hunt them, or hunt in areas where there\u2019s more prey for them. Research into the specific compounds that make up wolf spider pheromones is limited, but it\u2019s highly unlikely that common beauty products will send them into a hunting (or mating) frenzy.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unfortunate news for those who were planning on building a spider army, like one Reddit user<\/a> who asked others to send them unwanted body butter.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe pesticides can be harmful, despite the need for them, and spiders are a natural way to keep harmful insects from overpopulating!\u201d the user said. \u201cTaking on the first part of this project in winter means I can release my spider army when the weather is the best for them to survive and do their duty of killing these damn mosquitoes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n