A BEAUTY HEAVYWEIGHT AND HIS MASTIFF
VINCE SPINNATO AND SAVANNAH
By Michael LaChance
You could call Vince Spinnato a heavyweight in the beauty arena. He’s been a winner in the industry for more than 25 years with a host of acclaimed product launches to his name. He’s also an activist, working with Wells of Life—to fund the digging of wells in Uganda to help bring clean water to outlying villages—and the Wounded Warrior project connecting injured veterans with trained therapy dogs. His beloved English Mastiff, Savannah, happens to be one such dog. His upcoming book, “My Pursuit of Beauty: A Cosmetic Chemist Reveals the Glitz, The Glam, and The Batsh*t Crazy”, will be out in January, with a documentary called “Skin Deep: Formulating A Legacy” following close on its heels.
From the age of eight, Vince was beauty-biz obsessed, concocting homespun fragrances in his sister’s Easy Bake Oven—“pretending I was a chemist,” he says, chuckling. But by fifteen, he had created his own fragrance bottle, as well as a company name and logo—both of which he uses to this day.
Now an accomplished cosmetic chemist and perfumer, Vince develops everything from fine fragrances to hair and skin-care products for A-list celebrities and doctors alike. He’s even developed numerous lines of pet-care and grooming products for dogs, cats, and horses!
And when it comes to his own pet, a three-and-a-half year-old English Mastiff named Savannah, he’s not afraid to pamper her. From full pedicures to weekly baths and Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès collars, Savannah is no stranger to the finer side of life. “She has nicer stuff than me,” Vince says, with a laugh. Savannah is also a dedicated service dog in the Wounded Warrior program. Fully trained and donning her special service vest, she pays regular visits to members of the armed forces wounded in the line of duty. Despite being an honorary member of the Marine Corps though, her training is strictly in providing comfort to our wounded warriors.
Weighing nearly two-hundred pounds, Savannah is no lap dog— yet surprisingly, she travels everywhere with Vince. She’s his constant companion, and in fact, a genuine therapeutic presence in his life.
Vince suffers from Trichotillomania, a widespread, yet largely unrecognized psychological condition involving obsessive-compulsive hair-pulling. In his struggle to find ways to cope with this insufficiently-understood disorder, Vince has found that what helps him the most is, in fact, Savannah. Having her around greatly alleviates the tension he feels from the condition, and beyond the calming effect of her presence and the emotional relief he feels from their bond, he’s found that the actual process of petting her directly quells his compulsion. Luckily, Savannah is the ideal candidate; Mastiffs are known for being calm and docile creatures, affectionate dogs who live for affection.
Savannah and Vince are inseparable, and so the shift to a more homebound way of life hasn’t changed how much face-time they have with one another. Speaking of faces, Savannah is so well-trained, that with mere facial expressions, Vince can get her to obey a number of commands. English Mastiffs are a highly intelligent breed, he shares, “I think sometimes looking at her, that she might be doing algebra in her head.” Vince has had four English Mastiffs in his life—Sable, Falon, Alexis, and, of course, Savannah—all of them girls, and all of them related. Using a southwest Missouri-based breeder, Jaime Berno from Mastiff Madness, he’s chosen each of his beloved canines, from his first dog, Sable’s, family-line.
Vince tells PET LIFESTYLES that loving Mastiffs can be an emotional roller-coaster. Their life-expectancy is among the shortest of any dog breed, and they’re often beset with a number of health issues. Sadly, none of Vince’s dogs have lived long past the age of six to date. But despite all the pain and loss, he maintains “a healthy respect for the cycle of life;” for Vince, six good years with a dog he loves is an immeasurable investment.
“I swear, it’s like I gave birth to them,” she laughs, adding that if not for the pandemic, Zeus would be on set like he was for “Orange is The New Black”, a very dog-friendly show. “Every single person had dogs on the set, the dogs had T-shirts that said, ‘Orange is the New Black’ and there were parties specifically for them,” she adds.
