Abstract: An endermic liniment containing at least one type of phenylalanine compound, and/or its salt, is disclosed. This endermic liniment has a melanin production suppression effect and is superior in terms of its skin whitening effect as in preventing and/or improving chloasma, freckles and pigmentation in the skin after sunburn. It is also stable and highly safe.

Abstract: An external preparation for skin comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of escinol and its salts represented by the following constitutional formula (1): ##STR1## (wherein R.sup.1 is hydrogen atom or hydroxyl group and R.sup.2 is pyranose residue.)Due to the effect of escinol which characterizes the present invention, the external preparation in accordance with the present invention is excellent in whitening effect and has a high safety.

Abstract: An external preparation for the skin comprising at least one of the glycosides or hydroxysaliyclic acid and/or the glycosides of aliphatic esters of hydroxysalicylic acid represented by the following formula 1: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 represents one selected from the group consisting of saturated hydrocarbon group and an unsaturated hydrocarbon group which have 1 to 20 carbon atoms and which may be either a straight-chain or a branched chain, and one of R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 represents a sugar residue and the other hydrogen. The external preparation for the skin has an excellent whitening effect and/or an excellent skin care effect.