PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an aqueous dispersion for a cosmetic endowed simultaneously with flexibility and hairdressing property (set retention) and capable, even if a set state is temporarily undone, of easily restoring the original set state and a cosmetic obtained by using the same.SOLUTION: As an aqueous dispersion of a urethane-(meth)acrylic acid composite resin obtained by polymerizing, within a pre-emulsion obtained by emulsifying and dispersing, within an aqueous medium, (A) a polyurethane possessing isocyanate and carboxyl groups and (B) a (meth)acrylic acid ester-based polymerizable monomer, the component (B), an aqueous dispersion satisfying the following respective conditions is used: (1) the polyol unit constituting the component (A) is polyether polyol； (2) the polyether polyol includes, as a main component, a constituent unit derived from a dialkylene glycol including 2 to 4 carbon atoms and has a number-average molecular weight of 400 or above and 4000 or below； and (3) the weight ratio of the component (A) with respect to the component (B) ((A)/(B)) is 80-20/30-70.
