Certified Nose Vince Spinnato Spills on What it Takes to Create a Fragrance

Industry veteran Vince Spinnato has spent the last 25 years in the beauty industry garnering success for himself and his nose. He is frequently described as a “certified nose” and in his own words, “similar to a sommelier in wine … kind of the same for a nose in perfumery, learning and being educated on all the different notes, top notes, bottom notes, and middle notes that go into a fragrance including all of the essential oils that are needed.”

It’s a process which is quite long and grueling, that takes many years to attain certification for, Spinnato says. Being someone with such an amazing nose, it must be insured. “It’s kind of like how the Rockettes have their legs insured—I have my nose insured, because if anything happens to my nose, I can’t do my job,” Spinnato says.

His process for creating fragrances for clients is involved and very personal. He explains it’s “finding a balance” when he begins creating fragrances, for clients of any gender, notably celebrity clients.

He explains, “We take a deep dive with them—what they like, what they don’t like.” He goes further,  “It’s almost like building a house, we create a foundation or the bottom notes which ground the fragrance.” Spinnato is quite passionate and knowledgeable in his explanation. “Then, we go for the middle note, which is the scent that appears on the body around 20 to 30 minutes into wearing the fragrance.” 

This part is important, as it speaks to the longevity of the fragrance. Finally, we come to the top note, which is what one would smell when first spraying the bottle, essentially the first impression of the fragrance and possibly the most important part of any fragrance. 

Spinnato says, “It’s a balance of what you want to permeate the air versus what you want to stay on the body.”  Spinnato puts his best foot forward when creating fragrances for celebrity clients.

Speaking of celebrities, Spinnato has an upcoming project with Liza Minnelli and the Judy Garland estate. Garland, as a gay icon herself, will soon be part of a new collaboration coming June of 2022 with Spinnato, quite an exciting project for anyone who loves the illustrious actress and might be interested in fragrance. Spinnato’s love for gay iconography reaches back years, even to his adolescence. We may soon see the second coming of young and old queer folk alike gathering to rave and sing praise to Garland. 

Spinnato’s love for cosmetics and the beauty industry steam from his grandmother and their shared hobby of watching daytime soap operas. 

“I used to come home, and she would be watching the young and the restless,” he says. “It was the 80s, so then Dynasty came out, and it was filled with money and debauchery and glamour, and I was hooked. To this day, I credit William Bell (creator of the Young and the Restless) and Aaron Spelling (producer of Dynasty) for my career.” 

Spinnato was inspired by the glamour and affluence in the series, associated with these two men, notably taking inspiration from Jabot Cosmetics, a fictional cosmetics company in the young and the restless.

In college, Spinnato would skip class and make his way from New Jersey to New York City submitting his resume to esteemed companies like Revlon, Estee Lauder, and Chanel. He knew that this is what he was destined to do. Even now, the past 10 years have been a ride for Spinnato, in that he has even created his own luxury skincare brand called VS Vincenzo Caviar & Diamonds. 

“The Caviar of course is sourced from a farm in Key West, which is rich in amino acids, vitamins, and all sorts of good stuff,” Spinnato explains. A favorite product of his is the “Morning Dew Drops” which is a 30-day morning ampoule, which is filled with peptide complexes and moisturizers and help with expression lines and wrinkles, making sure that you look young and luminous. 

Ultimately, Spinnato chalks up his success to hard work and says he wishes he didn’t spend so much time dwelling on what other people said he should and shouldn’t do. He also explains that being a gay man in the cosmetics industry didn’t garner him any extra help, but it may have got him some acceptance in it as opposed to his heterosexual counterparts. 

He does stress that to any young person looking to break into the industry should check out his autobiography, My Pursuit of Beauty: A Cosmetic Chemist Reveals the Glitz, the Glam and the Batsh*t Crazy. Spinnato adds, “It’s really a guide of what not to do in the industry.”