My Pursuit of Beauty

Description

“Finalist, LGTBQ Non-Fiction Category, 15^th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards”

REVIEWS

“Dynasty, produced by my Dad, Aaron Spelling, sparked the imagination of my friend, Vince Spinnato, and inspired him to turn his dreams of developing luxury beauty products into a reality. His no-holds-barred memoir describing his struggles to the top is brutally honest, hilarious and heartbreaking. I couldn’t put the book down.”

—Tori Spelling, actress, producer and author of sTori Telling, Mommywood 

“I met Vince through my makeup artist and best friend in London, Jo Sugar, who raved about not only his products, but his passion. Being a product junkie myself, I told her to give him my number, which has led into a wonderful journey of his skin care lines. His honesty and his scientific talent about the skincare industry has made me love this book and his products. Growing up with the legendary iconic faces of MGM royalty like my mother, Judy Garland, I understand the trust you need to have in today’s confusing billion-dollar beauty industry. When you find the right ‘wizard’ you are grateful and stay connected.”

—Lorna Luft, singer, actor, New York Times Bestselling Author of A Star is Born: The Film That Got Away and five-time Emmy award-winning producer of the mini-series Judy Garland: Me and My Shadow

“As a beauty professional and founder of the largest ‘meeting and discussing’ book club in the world, I knew from the first chapter that this was a book from the perspective of creating ‘beauty’ that I had not heard before in a world of reading. Vince Spinnato has a big and real story. I flew through the pages and oftentimes I was literally on the edge of my velvet covered seat.  What a story!  It gets Five Diamonds in the Pulpwood Queen Recommended Reading list. This dazzling gem of a book is now our Official 2021 February Pulpwood Queen/Timber Guys Book of the Month Club Selection!”

–Kathy L. Murphy, artist/author/founder of International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Reading Nation and author of The Pulpwood Queens’ Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life

At age 10, Vince Spinnato watched TV soaps with his grandmother and became enamored with the characters on The Young and the Restless, who owned a cosmetics firm. He vowed he would follow in their footsteps and chose a name—VS Vincenzo—a brand one of his companies still bear. In his memoir, Spinnato shares the inner workings of the multi-billion-dollar beauty industry with entertaining tales about creating beauty products and fine fragrances for megastars. His first celebrity client was Michael Jordan, who was quickly followed by Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan, Gwen Stefani, Damone Roberts, The Real Housewives of Orange County and scores more.

In this unconventional memoir, Spinnato shares some of his life’s most bizarre situations. There was the time he survived a tornado in Iowa while being tethered to a bridge, and another when he became stuck inside a resort water slide that involved melted butter and a rescue by the fire department. Then there was his terrifying flight post 9/11 that was nearly shot down by fighter pilots, as well as an embarrassing meetup with film star Lauren Bacall.

Getting from his grandmother’s couch in Vineland, New Jersey, to becoming a serial entrepreneur and expert in the beauty industry was no small feat. Along the way, Spinnato dealt with incessant bullying, coming out, dyslexia, body dysmorphia, trichotillomania and multiple betrayals. “A devastating breakup was the last straw,” he says. “At age 20, I got in my car, waved goodbye to New Jersey and headed to Hollywood, determined to launch my career.”

His modus operandi was to breeze into famous salons and announce that he would return in the morning to begin his internship. Long before he became a cosmetic chemist, his ploy led to lucrative consulting positions in the industry. Once he had both the expertise and the financial means, he founded TurnKey Beauty, Inc. specializing in the development of beauty and personal care products for celebrities under their own names, as well as brands for entrepreneurs and retail companies. He also founded Aegean Skincare, LLC and Vincenzo Skincare, LLC.

The serial entrepreneur and philanthropist has created more than 300 products for retail establishments like Banana Republic, Costco, Johnson & Johnson, Sephora, Victoria’s Secret, Body Works and others. He recently launched a luxury skincare line, Caviar & Diamond under his VS Vincenzo brand. An expert in his field, he has been a contributor to Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, W, Esquire, GQ, Riviera and many more. In MY PURSUIT OF BEAUTY, Spinnato not only shares behind-the-scenes tales of working with the rich and famous, searing tales of loves lost, his scramble to make it and the importance of real growth inside and out.