An objective of the present invention is to provide a retinol-containing oil-in-water emulsion cosmetic that has excellent emulsion stability while stably retaining retinol, that also has a good fitting sensation when applied, and that has a watery and fresh feeling in use. The present invention pertains to an oil-in-water emulsion cosmetic containing (a) retinol; (b) an alkyl-modified carboxyvinyl polymer; and (c) an oil, wherein a blended amount of the (c) oil is 10% to 40% by mass relative to a total amount of the cosmetic, and the (c) oil contains at least 50% by mass of an ester oil relative to a total amount of the oil.