Vincenzo Spinnato is a Cosmetic Chemist, Certified Nose, Executive and Marketer extraordinaire. With his career spanning over twenty-five years, Vince knows a thing or two about beauty, and his introduction to the cosmetic industry is quite a story!
Vince grew up in Vineland, New Jersey, surrounded by his religious, Italian family. Vince and his grandma would routinely watch The Young and The Restless Soap Opera, but, for him, it went deeper than the drama. Vince was intrigued by Jabot Cosmetics – a fictional cosmetic business owned by the character, John Abbott, on the television show. Vince says, “As a young boy, I used my sister’s easy bake oven and pretended I was making cosmetic products like in the show.” His passion and fascination only continued to grow.
By age ten, he knew he wanted to create his own line of beauty products. And at the age of twenty, he headed west to pursue his dreams.
After studying chemistry and international business in college, Vince completed a two-year apprenticeship learning about cosmetic chemistry as well as the national and international manufacturing and retail ends of the industry. During that time, Vince acquired vast knowledge and became an expert in identifying the effectiveness of ingredients and raw materials while working within a team framework.
Vince admits, “There are a lot of cosmetic chemists out there, but ninety-nine percent of them are strictly chemists who work behind the scenes. It is unusual to have an extrovert like myself as a chemist. I engage myself with all the chemical suppliers around the world and make them educate me on what is going on trend-wise for each year.” From there, Vince writes a trend forecast detailing what will be the newest and greatest ingredients coming out, which is then sent to companies like Estée Lauder and L’Oréal.
Vince has worked with well-known cosmetic companies such as Chanel, Procter & Gamble, Whole Foods, Johnson & Johnson, the list goes on. Additionally, Vince has worked closely with celebrities like Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan and Seth MacFarlane to develop original products. Jennifer Lopez’s “Still” fragrance and Michael Jordan’s cologne are the two that helped his career take off.
Vince’s latest project Judy: A Garland Fragrance by Vincenzo Spinnato, is his most historic yet. This fragrance was created in honor of the iconic Hollywood entertainer Judy Garland. Vince says, “Growing up in my house, all we listened to were ‘the Greats,’ Judy Garland being one.” Vince’s late father and grandfather were both talented musicians whom Vince looked up to and derived his love of music from.
To Vince’s surprise, three years ago, Lorna Luft, daughter of Judy Garland, got a hold of Vince’s memoir, which mentions his love for Judy, leaving Lorna wanting to know more. After personally reaching out to Vince, one thing led to the next, and they began developing the fine fragrance to honor her mother.
Vince worked alongside Judy’s daughters, Lorna Luft and Liza Minnelli, and her son Joey Luft to design the original scent. “I wanted all three of Judy’s kids’ input to properly honor their mother, protect her image, her work and her legacy,” says Vince. “Each smelling note includes Judy’s favorite things, whether it is chocolate – her favorite treat – or the spices she loved to cook with, like coriander, and even her favorite flower, the rose.” As a result, each key note of the fragrance has a special meaning to Judy and the legacy her kids hope to continue.
This year, on December 10th and 11th, Vince will host a weekend-long event in Nashville to celebrate and debut years of work! The event will include a showing of Vince’s documentary, Skin Deep: Formulating A Legacy, a book signing for his memoir, My Pursuit of Beauty: A Cosmetic Chemist Reveals the Glitz, the Glam, and the Batsh*t Crazy, his skincare line, Vincenzo’s Skincare (Caviar and Diamonds), and most importantly, the debut of the fragrance “Judy.”
For more information and to purchase “Judy,” visit judygarlandfragrance.com.
