Body Lotion Accused of Attracting Giant Spiders Goes Viral

Arachnophobes look away now—there's a beauty product on the market that people claim attracts spiders.

Sephora shoppers are cautioning beauty enthusiasts not to buy the Sol de Janeiro Delícia Drench Body Butter because they say it brings forth enormous spiders. This all started when one person wrote a review saying the product, which retails for $22 to $48 online and in Sephora stores, 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! 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," the one-star review reads.

"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."

This post has since birthed a handful of reviewers who have written similar claims on the Sephora website.

"I like the smell and the consistency. However, every time I've worn this I've noticed spiders," one person wrote.

"If you're a fan of soft, hydrated skin with a tropical scent that screams vacation (and spiders), then this is the cream for u. had to call multiple people because I can't even sleep in my own house anymore. there is a literal family of wolf spiders living in every room in my house," said another.

The original review also sparked Reddit and X, formerly Twitter, users to experiment to see whether the claims were true.

One X user posted an image of an alleged wolf spider bite after using the body butter, while an amateur investigator on the r/Sephora subreddit wrote about applying a sample of the lotion on a piece of tissue. They said it allegedly attracted eight spiders in a single day.

Another Redditor said if the cream contains farnesyl acetate, diisobutyl phthalate and hexadecyl, there is a chance that spiders could be attracted to it.

"There is a two component female produced pheromone of spider. It basically signals for sexual communication," they wrote. "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.'

They continued: "Summary: combine farnesyl acetate with hexadecyl acetate in right dosage and it might bring all the thirsty boy spiders to your yard. Because you may also smell like a thirsty girl spider."

In a later edit of their post, they did clarify that they don't know whether the product in question contains the above chemicals but says they "are very commonly used in skincare in general and we, as customers, do not know what's actually in the 'fragrance' part of the ingredient list."

Someone posted screenshots of this Reddit comment to X and added: "it's literally made out of spider pheromones. you can't make this up. yall are wearing SPIDER PHEROMONES AND ATTRACTING ALL THE MALE SPIDERS OH MY GOD."

However, a Sol de Janeiro representative rubbished the claims that the Delícia Drench Body Butter could attract spiders and clarified that it doesn't contain farnesyl acetate, diisobutyl phthalate or hexadecyl.

"Sol de Janeiro takes the safety and concerns of its consumers extremely seriously," they told Newsweek. "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, only working with partners who support the company's commitment to sustainable sourcing and science-backed safe biomimetics.

"Farnesyl acetate, diisobutyl phthalate and hexadecyl acetate are not present in any of our Sol de Janeiro products, particularly Delicia Drench Body Butter and Cheirosa 59 Perfume Mist. Any claims that say otherwise are false and have no merit whatsoever. 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."

Newsweek also reached out to Sephora for comment via email Friday.

Other people have also been quick to lambast these claims, pointing out the fact that misinformation was being spread simply based on the initial Sephora review.

"This was a made up rumor based on one Sephora user's review. The reviewer goes by the Sephora username 'chemkats' and wrote an almost identical review of the Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Joia hair conditioner back in March of this year. If they're just trying to have fun, or if they truly have a grievance with Sol de Janeiro is uncertain," they wrote.

"What clear is that they're trying to spread misinformation, and to their credit, they've managed to have dozens of websites write about the 'wolf spider' problem with the Delícia Drench body cream. I'm sure it's led to loss of sales, at the very least, and at most, serious brand defamation. I know that it's been fun and games, but I just wanted nip this in the bud before it gets even bigger. There is not a correlation between this or any other Sol de Janeiro product and wolf spiders."

Some have even said that they've been using the cream themselves and haven't noticed an increase in spiders.

"It's absolutely ridiculous. I've been wearing it for days and 0 spiders," one Reddit user commented.

"I have it and have used it, no spiders. It's moisturizing and not greasy. The scent sticks around and reminds me of Eos Vanilla Cashmere lotion. I'll buy the mist when it comes out," said another.