Yesterday, Pinrose announced on their website that they would be cancelling production of their controversial “starter witch kit.”
Prior to their statement, many things about the product were unknown, such as their sourcing the sage from Native American based businesses.
There was so much controversy surrounding this product, but a lot of the claims people made were quite inaccurate.
The biggest complaints with this product were regarding:
Cultural appropriation of Native Americans and indigenous cultures by including a sage stick in the kit
“Appropriation” of Wicca and witchcraft as a whole
Using white sage because it’s “endangered”
Making a gimmick out of witchcraft by commercializing it in a perfume kit
Copying the art for their tarot deck
Here’s the problem with these complaints:
We may not have known it at the time, but they were ethically harvesting sage and actually supporting Native Americans by buying it directly from businesses owned by Natives. They also never referenced the sage stick as a tool for “smudging.”
Anyone who says you can “appropriate” witchcraft is a damn fool – witchcraft is such a vast practice, employed by many cultures all over the world; it is not a religion; it does not belong to one group of people or culture.
White. Sage. Is. Not. Endangered. Sacred to various indigenous groups? Yes.
I have said it once, and I’ll say it again: Pinrose is not the first company to try and “sell” witchcraft in this manner and they will not be the last. They may have offended the masses, but I wholeheartedly believe that they did not have bad intentions by creating this product.
They actually purchased the rights to use the art for their tarot deck.
Why this was a “bad” product?
As a witch and magickal practitioner, I think it made for a poor “starter kit” for witches, new or old, but aside from a catchy name, I don’t think that’s what this product was actually intended for.
Why this was a good product?
Pinrose is an all female team, who makes products that inspire individuality and imagination.
Their products are not that expensive, including the starter kit.
The packaging is aesthetically pleasing.
Their products are cruelty free and hypoallergenic.
They were doing everything in their power to be the least offensive possible with this starter kit – we just didn’t know it.
They took the time to be sure that the products included in this kit were ethically harvested, in regards to both the environment and the cultures represented.
Technically, it could very well have been the introduction to witchcraft for many aspiring witches.
Overall? I am deeply ashamed of the witchcraft community for attacking this company the way they did. Sending letters to apologize and beg for them to put the product back on the shelf is not going to fix the negativity surrounding their company. What people thought was an attack on Sephora for being a supplier for this product, was actually an attack on an up-and-coming small business.
Like that sucks and all, but there was no information about this aside that Sephora was selling it for $42. No one even knew about Pinrose. They could have focus tested this, done damage control immediately, any number of things.
That’s because it was not even officially announced yet lmao yall will find any reason to backpedal and argue but the truth is that this community was incredibly nasty about it without knowing the facts and that is just as bad because we could have asked questions (like I did in my emails to them) but didn’t. We got on social media and blacklisted them before having any real knowledge about it. Shameful.
Water Witches 