Abstract: Given that vinyl acetate is classified as a Group 2B carcinogen and there are limited reports on related detection methods, the described method was used to determine the residue of vinyl acetate in seven types of matrix samples including lipstick, face cream, massage essential oil, gel, toner, powder compact and hair mousse. The 1.00 g of sample was placed in a 20 mL-headspace vial, to which 2 g of sodium chloride and 5 mL of water were added. The mixed solution was quickly sealed and equilibrated at 70 ℃ for 20 min. The resulting gas was then analyzed by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Separation was achieved on a DB-WAX column using a temperature-programmed condition, with electron impact ion source for ionization and selected ion monitoring mode for detection. Quantification was performed using the matrix-matched method. It was shown that linear relationships between values of the mass concentration and peak area of vinyl acetate in the seven matrices mentioned above were kept in the range of 0.050-2.0 mg·L⁻¹, with detection limit (3S/N) of 0.100 mg·kg⁻¹. Recovery tests were conducted on the obove seven blank matrices using the standard addition method, giving recoveries in the range of 88.6%-102%, and RSDs (n=6) of the determined values ranged from 1.4% to 6.8%. The proposed method was applied to the analysis of 30 samples, vinyl acetate was detected in one hair mousse and three nail polishes （quantified using the working curve of massage essential oil） at detection amounts of 0.425， 1.23, 2.21, 0.966 mg·kg⁻¹, respectively.