ObjectiveAn HPLC method was established for the determination of azelaic acid and potassium azeloycinate diglycinate in cosmetics. MethodsThe samples were extracted with 60 mmol·L^-1 sodium hydroxide water solution-methyl alcohol. After centrifugation and filtration， the analysis of azelaic acid and potassium azeloycinate diglycinate was performed with a SVEA C8（250 mm×4.6 mm， 5 μm） column， using 15 mmol‧L^-1 potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution （pH=3.0） and acetonitrile for gradient elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL·min^-1.The analytes were detected with UV detector， and quantified by external standard curve. ResultsThe results showed a good linearity in the range of 5‒1 000 μg‧mL^-1 with correlation coefficients （r） larger than 0.999. The detection limit of azelaic acid and potassium azeloycinate diglycinate （LOD） was 0.020% and 0.015%， respectively. The spiked recoveries were 87.66% to 108.96% with the relative standard deviation （RSD） of 0.6% to 3.3%. ConclusionThe method is simple， rapid and highly sensitive. It is suitable for the determination of azelaic acid and potassium azeloycinate diglycinate in cosmetics.