PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide external preparations for skin that have an excellent skin care effect on dull skin and an excellent effect of recovering pristine clarity and brightness of the skin.SOLUTION: The external preparations for skin comprise the following components (A) and (B): (A) one or more selected from among pentaerythritol and alkyl acetal derivatives of pentaerythritol represented by the specified general formulas (1) and (2) and (B) a blood circulation promoting component.