Questions & Answers about Lotion wil ik niet veel.
Why is lotion at the start of the sentence while niet veel is at the end?
This is an example of a discontinuous noun phrase (or split topicalization). Instead of keeping the phrase together as niet veel lotion, we pull the bare noun (lotion) to the very front to make it the topic of the conversation. The quantifier (niet veel) stays behind. It carries the feeling of "As for lotion, I don't want much."
In similar sentences, I've seen the word er added before the quantity (like Boeken heb ik er drie). Why is there no er here?
The quantitative er is only required when the separated noun is countable (like books, apples, or cars). In this sentence, lotion is treated as an uncountable mass noun, similar to water, money, or sand. When you split an uncountable noun from its quantifier, you do not use er.
Is it also grammatically correct to just say Ik wil niet veel lotion?
Yes, absolutely! Ik wil niet veel lotion is the standard, neutral word order. Splitting the phrase and moving lotion to the front is simply a stylistic choice to add emphasis to the object you are talking about.
Why does the verb wil come before the subject ik?