The issue is to provide an external preparation for skin, which is excellent in effects of improvement of skin texture, a somber color on the skin, and acne, inherent to chemical peeling, and which is easy to wash away while having a moderate viscosity free from dripping, is easy to apply to the skin, is of low irritation, and is excellent in safety. The external preparation for skin comprises ingredients (a), (b), and (c) and has a pH value of 2.0 to 5.0: (a) 1.0 to 7.0 mass% of at least one of the members selected from the group consisting of ±-hydroxy acids, (b) 0.1 to 3.0 mass% of a crosslinked type N,N-dimethylacrylamide-2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid sodium salt copolymer, and (c) 0.1 to 3.0 mass% of an associating thickener, such as a polyethylene glycol-240/decyltetradeceth-20/hexamethylene diisocyanate copolymer.케미컬 필링제 특유의 피부결이나 칙칙함, 여드름 등의 개선 효과가 우수하고, 흘러내리지 않는 적당한 점도를 가지면서도 씻어내기 쉽고, 또한 도포하기 쉬우며, 저자극으로 안전성도 우수한 피부 외용제를 제공한다. (a) α-히드록시산으로부터 선택되는 1종 또는 2종 이상을 1.0~7.0질량%과, (b) 가교형 N,N-디메틸아크릴아미드-2-아크릴아미드-2-메틸프로판술폰산 나트륨 공중합체를 0.1~3.0질량%과, (c) (폴리에틸렌글리콜-240/데실테트라데세스-20/헥사메틸렌디이소시아네이트)코폴리머와 같은 회합성 증점제를 0.1~3.0질량%를 포함하고, pH가 2.0~5.0인 것으로 한다.
