Has WitchTok Turned Spell Oils Into an Influencer Business Model?

This is going to be a long oneeee!!

Okay, I’ve been wanting to have this conversation for a while because I genuinely want to know what other practitioners think.
And before anyone comes for me, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE me some spell oils 😂 I’ve bought plenty myself. I fell into it too. So this isn’t coming from someone sitting on the outside judging people for buying them. I was literally one of the consumers waiting for the next drop.

But the more I started paying attention, the more I started questioning the whole WitchTok spell oil empire.

Some of these creators built huge followings through WitchTok and eventually created entire businesses around spell oils, candles, ritual products, Patreons, classes, etc. Some of them don’t even associate themselves with WitchTok anymore, even though that community played a huge part in building their audience.

And now it feels like there is ALWAYS something being sold.

A new spell oil. A limited collection. A seasonal oil. A restock. Another launch. Another collaboration.

Then you have Patreons where people are paying monthly because they were originally promised exclusive content, education, spells, rituals, or additional access. But when that content becomes inconsistent and one of the main benefits starts feeling like getting a discount code so you can buy MORE products from the creator, I start questioning what I’m actually paying for.

Then there’s something else I genuinely want people who make spell oils to explain to me.

What about the actual preparation and consecration?

Depending on the practice, doesn’t properly preparing an oil sometimes take weeks or even months?

Some oils are infused. Some practitioners work according to planetary days, moon phases, specific spirits, prayers, petitions, candles, herbs, or other ritual processes. Some preparations are worked repeatedly before they’re considered finished.

Obviously not every tradition or practitioner follows the same process, so I’m not claiming there is one universal way to make a spell oil.
But that’s exactly why I’m asking.

How are completely new formulas being developed so quickly and sometimes seemingly out of nowhere?

How are you researching and developing the formula, sourcing ingredients, preparing it, infusing it if necessary, consecrating it, bottling hundreds of bottles, labeling everything, packaging orders, creating content and then launching another new collection?
Especially when you’re already extremely backed up on orders.

That part REALLY doesn’t make sense to me.
I completely understand that small businesses can blow up overnight and receive way more orders than expected. I understand being overwhelmed.

But when customers are being told their orders could take 60, 70, or even 80 days, why are we already promoting another drop?
Wouldn’t you want the people who already gave you their money to receive their products before creating even MORE demand?
If you know you can’t keep up with your current orders, why not stop launching new products for a minute, catch up, and then release something new?

And then this is the part that really gets me.
Customers are waiting two or almost three months for their orders, but meanwhile we’re watching content of vacations, traveling, new purchases, new homes, collaborations, outings, and then suddenly another spell oil collection is being announced.
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.

And no, I’m not saying business owners aren’t allowed to take vacations, travel, buy themselves nice things, or enjoy the money they worked for. Obviously they are.

I’m questioning the priorities of the business when customers have already paid and are still waiting months for their products while the business continues accepting more money through new launches.

Then there’s the actual product itself.
I’ve personally purchased different oils that smelled almost exactly the same. I’ve also received oils where there was barely any scent at all and honestly, some smelled like water.
And that made me start asking myself:

What exactly am I paying for?

Am I paying for a carefully prepared spiritual tool?

Am I paying for someone’s knowledge and spiritual practice?

Or am I paying for branding, packaging, aesthetics and the parasocial trust I’ve developed with the creator because I’ve watched them online for years?

There are also several creators who work very closely together. They promote one another, collaborate, recommend each other’s products and essentially circulate within the same audience.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Businesses collaborate all the time.
But when you stop looking at it as a fan and start looking at it as a consumer, the entire thing starts looking like a VERY successful marketing ecosystem.

And that’s when I started asking myself a question that completely changed how I looked at all of this:

Am I actually developing my own craft, or am I collecting somebody else’s?

Because having 30 spell oils from your favorite WitchTok creator doesn’t necessarily make your practice more powerful.

The magic is still within YOU.

You can research herbs. You can study correspondences. You can read books. You can journal. You can practice divination. You can experiment with your own formulas and document your results. You can learn why certain ingredients are used instead of automatically buying whatever someone with a large following tells you is powerful.

Practitioners have sold oils, herbs, candles and spiritual services long before TikTok existed, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with being paid for your work.

I just think there’s a conversation worth having about when spiritual practice crosses over into influencer culture and consumerism.

At what point are we supporting practitioners, and at what point are we simply being marketed to?

I especially want to hear from people who actually make and consecrate their own spell oils.

How long does your process take?

Can properly prepared oils realistically be produced at the rate some of these businesses are releasing them?

And for anyone who has purchased from popular WitchTok creators, did you eventually start questioning this too?

Because I did.

And once I started looking at it from a consumer perspective instead of a fan perspective, I couldn’t unsee it.