A hair cosmetic composition including (a) at least one compound selected from fatty acids containing a linear or branched alkyl or alkenyl group having 12-40 carbon atoms, salts thereof and fatty acid esters composed of one of the fatty acids and a polyhydric alcohol; (b) at least one aromatic alcohol represented by the general formula (1): ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 means a hydrogen atom or a methyl or methoxy group, Y denotes a single bond or a linear or branched alkylene or alkenylene group having 1-3 carbon atoms, Z is a hydrogen atom or a hydroxyl group, and p and q stand individually for a number of 0-5; and (c) at least one cationic surfactant. The hair cosmetic composition has neither sticky nor oily feel to the touch, is excellent in hair-conditioning effects of, for example, giving users a moistured feel of the hair and imparting softness and smoothness to the hair, gives resilience to the hair and is superb in effects of preventing damage to the hair and of keeping the waves or curls of the hair beautiful.