A skin external preparation includes a finely dispersed wax composition that is solid or semisolid at room temperature, a nonionic surfactant, an aqueous dispersion medium, and an ionic water-soluble thickener, and optionally further contains at least one of silicone oil and fluorinated oil which is liquid at room temperature, and the mass ratio of the nonionic surfactant to the wax being 1.0 or more, the particle size of the finely dispersed wax is 500 nm or less, and it substantially contains no ionic surfactants therein.
