Carlos Vinals is a New York-based fine-fragrance perfumer and, since December 2009, VP Senior Perfumer at Symrise. The son of a flavorist, he entered the industry in 1985 as a trainee at IFF, where he was mentored by Carlos Benaim.

His career runs through several of the major houses: he was a perfumer at Givaudan from 1994 to 2004, then a senior perfumer at Takasago, and served as VP Perfumer of fine fragrance at Fragrance Resources from 2007 before joining Symrise.

He has composed a broad commercial catalogue for brands including Guess, Nautica, Victoria's Secret, O Boticario and Esika, and works often with woody-aromatic materials such as sandalwood, patchouli, amber and clary sage. For the chess-inspired niche house Mind Games he created Gambit (2023), a masculine contrasting lavender and geranium against clove, cardamom and sandalwood.