A hair-styling cosmetic exerts good effect, although being water-based and having a low viscosity, shows no stickiness and high smoothness and gives the sense of a favorable light finish and is suitable for mist-spraying. Disclosed is a hair-styling cosmetic containing (a) 0.1-10 mass % of an adhesive resin, and (b) 3-30 mass % of one or more kinds of components selected from among a sugar alcohol, a polyalkylene glycol and derivatives thereof, characterized in that the adhesive resin (a) has such properties that a film of 0.1 mm in thickness is formed of a composition containing said resin substantially at a ratio of 50 mass % has, after drying for 1 day at 25° C. and humidity 50%, an adhesiveness of showing a ball number of 1-30 in the inclined ball tack test (inclination angle 30°, measured at 25° C., humidity 50%).
