Sephora Is Now My Go-To Source for Spider Science
If your unanswered Christmas wish has always been to summon spiders, well, friend, Santa may have come a little late for you this year, but he’s come nonetheless. It appears that a body cream does just that, and the Sephora customer reviews, of all places, have unleashed this horror magic unto the world.
If you’re not constantly in the reviews of random products from Sephora (and if not, really what are you doing with your spare time instead?) you may not know that a few days ago, community member Chemkats posted the following review for Sol de Janeiro’s newest body butter, Delícia Drench:
SCENT ATTRACTS WOLF SPIDERS
If you’re scared of wolf spiders- watch out for these lotions lol. I 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. Normally I’ll see one every like 3 years, used this and it was every day. I stopped using it and haven’t seen one since…. oh and one time, the spider wanted to eat whatever ingredient it is so bad that it chased me. I swear on everything. I’d run left, it ran left, I ran right, it ran right. Like it was legit following the scent. And no, the scent isn’t that good, nothing a $5 vanilla cream can’t match. So yeah, do be careful if you’re frightened of spiders, especially the big wolf ones. Also, plz don’t hurt them if you do wear this & they appear. Use a cup and put them outside. Sorry for a disappointing review.
According to the site, this was an incentivized review, but no further explanation was given, so it very well could have been incentivized by disappointed spiders who are sick of getting their hopes up and crawling out of the woodwork only to be greeted by alarmed human beings who put on fairly expensive body butter that vaguely smells like vanilla.
Now, when you casually post a review about a product attracting spiders, it tends to get attention. This post is how I found out about it:
This is where (you guessed it) Reddit comes in because you can’t make a claim like that and not have people want to explore it further. It seems, at least according to one random person on the internet (and we all know you can always trust the randos!) Delícia Drench has a combination of ingredients that mimic spider pheromones looking for some frisky action. Whoops! (or maybe, “Yeah!”? Depending on your outlook around smelling like spiders looking to fornicate. I don’t judge.)
Hello. I just did a little dive into chemicals that attract spiders because I really don’t like bugs. Ao according to studies? There is a two component female produced pheromone of spider. It basically signals for sexual communication. The chemical analysis reveals that “farnesyl acetate, diisobutyl phthalate and hexadecyl acetate of the spider webs exhibited higher relative abundance in sexually receptive females” also, “Two choice behavioral essays verified that the blend of farnesyl acetate and hexadecyl acetate attracted males”.
Farnesyl acetate is primarily used in skincare for fragrance and same for Hexadecyl Acetate (cetyl acetate) for fruity smell and waxy appearance. Cetyle acetate is commonly used as a thickening agent for body cream and lotion.
Marchingkoala
So, a few things. First, I would very much like to imagine that there is some spider-loving weirdo over at The L’Occitane Group, which owns the brand, who put these ingredients together on purpose to fulfill a desire known only to them. Mainly because this is a major beauty brand with very expensive creams, and I love to think about how with all those resources, someone intentionally squeaked this by quality control and unleashed it unto the world to confuse horny spiders. That simply delights me.
Secondly, I barely passed science in school, but I did compare the ingredients listed by the above Redditor to the official ingredients list, and there wasn’t a 1:1 match, but you know how these things go. One thing can have multiple names or be a sub-ingredient that isn’t listed because when it’s combined with something, it gets called something else, so I don’t know. I personally would like to believe that an expensive cream out there attracts horny spiders to unsuspecting people because life just seems better that way. Your mileage may vary on that.
Really, the only way to ever truly know if this lotion attracts spiders is to slather yourself in it, and see. Personally, I don’t want to risk it. I barely tolerate spiders. However, like I said at the start, if it’s always been your dream to summon spiders and have them follow you around like a demigod. Well, friend, you finally got the chance. Good luck, and enjoy.
[UPDATED 12/30/2023, 7:30 PM] A spokesperson for Sol de Janeiro reached out to The Mary Sue with a statement from the company. “The claims featured in this piece from the reviewer are not true and have been debunked by our head of product in the statement below,” they wrote.
Sol de Janeiro Statement:
We have seen the recent social media rumors claiming that our products attract spiders. These claims have no merit whatsoever, including those that our product contain specific chemicals that allegedly attract spiders. These chemicals: farnesyl acetate, diisobutyl phthalate and hexadecyl acetate are not present in any of our Sol de Janeiro products. Sol de Janeiro takes the safety and concerns of its consumers extremely seriously. While we cannot speak to the affect these aforementioned chemicals have on arachnids, we confidently can say that these chemicals are not present in any of our products.
The brand carefully selects each ingredient for maximum efficacy and have banned the use of over 100 cosmetic ingredients in its formulations, while remaining at the forefront of developments in science and new standards around the world to ensure human and environmental health and safety. We only work with partners who support the company’s commitment to sustainable sourcing and science-backed safe biomimetics. Furthermore, all our products are cruelty free and PETA certified, as we do not conduct animal testing.
(featured image: BBC Studios, Sony Studios, Sol de Janeiro, TMS)
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