Cosmetics have whitening, moisturizing, nourishing and other effects, which are the results of a variety of active ingredients. Most of the active ingredients are nutrients, resulting in a high incidence of microbial contamination, which is easy to cause cosmetic quality deterioration. Preservatives are widely used in cosmetics, which can reduce the microbial contamination rate of cosmetics. With the rapid development of the cosmetics industry and the widespread use of functional components, preservatives have played an important role in cosmetics. The resulting incidence of related skin diseases is on the rise, which not only affects the skin beauty of patients, but also affects the safety of cosmetics. Therefore, this review will take the preservatives in cosmetics as the starting point, analyze the current situation of the use of preservatives in cosmetics and related skin diseases, and further clarify its development direction, in order to improve the safety of cosmetics.