A bacterial strain No. HB-5, which was capable of producing a pretense in the culture conditions, was isolated from the soil . The pretense was purified from cultural filtrate of Bacillus sp. HB-5 by membrane ultrafiltration and DEAE- cellulose chromatography, gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. The molecular weight was estimated to be 60k4a. The optimal pH and temperature for the activity of the purified pretense pH were 11 and 5$0^{circ}C$ , respectively. The enzyme was stable within a pH range 8-12 and up to 6$0^{circ}C$ . The enzyme activity was highly inhibited by PMSF at 1mM. The proteolytic actions of pretense and papain on human epidermis keratins which are major protein impurities on the skin, were compared. The bacterial pretense degraded more effectively than papain. Product containing 2% protease exhibited 21% increase on the skin coloration index. These results suggest that cosmetic product containing pretense produced by Bacillus sp. HB-5 could remove the adherent keratin layer and then make a softer skin.