Objective To explore the application of naphthyl ethylenediamine method for determination of nitrite in cosmetics. Methods The concentrations of nitrite in cosmetics were determined by hydrochloric acid-naphthylethylenediamine method. The experiments on working curve, precision and recovery rate were carried out. Results In the range of 0～12. 5 μg/50 ml nitrite,the correlation coefficient r value,recovery rate and relative standard deviation was 0. 9996,97. 7％～100. 2％ and 2.35％～4. 51％ respectively. Conclusion This method for determination of nitrite by hydrochloric acid and naphthyl ethylenediamine was simple,quick and accurate.