The present invention relates to cosmetic compositions containing polyglycerol partial esters of linear, unsubstituted carboxylic acids and bifunctional carboxylic acids with the provisos that the polyglycerol partial ester comprises an HLB-value from 2 to 10 and that the polyglycerol obtained by hydrolysis or alcoholysis of the polyglycerol partial ester comprises an average degree of polymerization of from 2 to 8 and at least 1% of the polyglycerol comprises cyclic structures. The present invention also relates to the use of aforementioned polyglycerol esters for the production of and use in cosmetic compositions.