Fear not, skincare girls, your moisturizer probably isn’t attracting spiders.
Sol de Janeiro’s Delícia Drench Body Butter, which launched earlier this month, has quickly become a cult product among skincare enthusiasts. In addition to hyaluronic acid, the lotion is packed with brightening ingredients like copaiba resin, passion flower seed oil, and prebiotic hibiscus to lock in moisture and soothe dry, “dull” skin, according to The Verge. Brand website. Scented with velvety plum, vanilla orchid, and sandalwood for a “mind-boosting experience” and packaged in cute violet jars, this $48 body butter is sure to be a staple in your beauty surgeries and GRWM videos.
Sol de Janeiro went viral on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit this week after users claimed they were hunted, bitten and courted (unsuccessfully) by wolf spiders when they applied the brand’s new moisturizer. While body butter may be irresistible to humans, it is unlikely to be sexually arousing to lonely spiders.
Mating in wolf spiders involves visual and vibrational cues, not just smells, Katherine Scott, a behavioral ecologist of spiders and a postdoctoral fellow in the Lyman Lab at McGill University, told TechCrunch.
“They have excellent vision (for spiders) and will not simply run toward the source of a scent, even if it smells like a potential mate, unless it also looks like a spider,” Scott said.
The product began gaining popularity in beauty circles when early reviews praised it for its moisturizing properties and irresistible scent, but it went viral on mainstream social media this week after a Sephora reviewer known as chemkats claimed the scent “attracts wolf spiders.”
“I wanted to love them so bad, but one of the ingredients is like the kryptonite in wolf spiders! When I put them on right away, one comes out,” the reviewer wrote.
They added that they usually see one “every three years”, but since using the lotion, they said they have started seeing wolf spiders “every day”.
“One time, the spider wanted to eat whatever ingredient it was so bad that it chased me,” Kimkats continued. “Like it was legit after the smell.”
One person claimed they were bitten by a wolf spider after they used their wife’s lotion. “Spiders love it, and so do people in the elevator,” another Sephora reviewer wrote. Reddit user He said They put another product from the brand – known as Brazilian Bum Bum Cream – on a tissue, and a different brand’s lotion on a different tissue, and those spiders seemed only interested in fabric containing the Sol de Janeiro product.
Scott He noted that the phrase “wolf spider” could apply to “an entire family of spiders” scientifically called Lycosidae. What many people might mistakenly call “wolf spiders” are most likely house spiders belonging to the Agelenidae family, which behave and react chemically differently.
If users correctly identify their spider pursuers as wolf spiders, it is technically possible that the preparation may contain compounds that spiders may examine because they believe they are following chemical signals associated with prey.
She continued: “But the story of the spider chasing the wearer does not hold up.” “This sound is typical of when people move too close to a spider and it is frightened, so it tries to run for cover, often in the shadow of the person – making the person think it is ‘attacking’ when it is actually trying to attack.” Hide.”
She said wolf spiders are “visual hunters” and will only try to prey on a smaller target. They also do not feed on human blood, so they have no reason to approach humans in general.
The original reviewer’s story is particularly questionable because they left similar reviews for Sephora about beauty products that attract spiders, including an almost identical one on Another product from Sol de Janeiro In March of this year. in Reviews 2022 to Two different BondiBoost productsThe chemkats claimed that spiders kept landing on their heads because of the smell of the products.
“If they are just trying to have fun, or if they really have a complaint about Sol de Janeiro, that is uncertain,” one Reddit user wrote in a message. string Warning others about chemkats. “What [is] “They are clearly trying to spread misinformation… I know it was all fun and games, but I just wanted to nip this in the bud before it escalates.”
But the hysteria around body butter has already spread, and many online — including the media — are reporting on A Reddit comment About the “pheromones” in the product. In response to a thread asking about the body butter, one Reddit user hypothesized that the chemicals in the Sol de Janeiro product are also present in spider pheromones, and that the right mix of those compounds “might bring all the thirsty spiders into your garden.”
The commentator seemed to cite A Paper 2009 that identified compounds found in the webs of sexually receptive female spiders, suggesting “possible pheromone components.” The researchers also found that a combination of two of the identified compounds, farnesyl acetate and hexadecyl acetate, attracted male spiders. Both compounds are used in cosmetics for fragrance and texture, but not in Viral Body Butter.
“All of our products, including the new Delícia Drench body butter and the upcoming Cheirosa 59 fragrance mist, are free of farnesyl acetate, diisobutyl phthalate, and hexadecyl acetate,” Sol de Janeiro said in a statement. Instagram story Published Thursday. “So, while it may attract a lot of attention from people, it won’t from spiders (although we love all the creatures in Sol de Janeiro. I hope that clears up any fears and happy 2024!”
Even if the products contain those compounds, as is the case in many cosmetics, the paper only identified the ingredients found in the sex pheromone of female products for a particular species of spider, Scott said. Pheromones are used by members of the same species to communicate with each other and provide species-specific information such as age, sex, and previous mating experience.
“Many of the spider pheromones used for sexual communication are short-range and require direct contact, with the spider essentially ‘tasting’ the silk or body of another individual to determine if it is the correct species and gender before approaching and attempting courtship and mating,” Scott added.
In other words, compounds that attract one type of spider will not attract another, such as wolf spiders or house spiders.
“What we’re probably talking about here are keromones, which are informational chemicals produced by one species (such as an insect pheromone, intended for communication between males and females of that species) that are used by another species (the spider) that is not the same species.” “The intended recipient of the chemical message,” Scott said.
Some wolf spiders, for example, use kairomones to avoid larger spiders that might hunt them, or to hunt in areas where there is more prey for them. Research into the specific compounds that make up wolf spider pheromones is limited, but common beauty products are unlikely to drive them into a hunting (or mating) frenzy.
It’s unfortunate news for those who were planning to build an army of spiders, like One Reddit user Who asked others to send them unwanted body butter.
“I believe that pesticides can be harmful, even though they are needed, and spiders are a natural way to prevent harmful insects from overpopulating!” said the user. “Doing the first part of this project in the winter means I can release my army of spiders when the weather is right for them to survive and do their bit of killing those damn mosquitoes.”