PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a skin external agent capable of enhancing stability of vanillyl butyl ether while having good coatability and good initial warm feeling, and of giving good warm feeling over a prolonged period.SOLUTION: A skin external agent includes following components (A), (B), (C) and (D): (A) 5 mass% or more and 40 mass% or less of water or the total of water and glycerin, (B) vanillyl butyl ether, (C) a polyhydric alcohol which is liquid at 25°C and other than glycerin, and (D) 1 mass% or more and 70 mass% or less of ethanol, where a mass ratio ({(C)+(D)}/(A)) of the total content of the component (C) and the component (D) to the total content of the component (A) is 1.4 or more.
