I realize there are many different groups that are involved in making a beauty product and I am just not sure how to find out what companies are involved in the scientific aspect of the products. As a chemical engineer, I would be most interested in product development (such as testing products or analyzing their physical/chemical properties, how they react with the skin) or mass production (process and quality control, reaction engineering, etc). Most of my classes are very theoretical rather than practical - I'm not sure if this is a disadvantage if I want to work in industry later on. I may not have much practical experience, but I am very good at learning quickly and applying the fundamentals that I've learned. 

After searching on the internet multiple times, I still don't know what kinds of places to contact for more information. I would love to learn more about this industry anywhere in the world (traveling and whatnot is not a huge issue for me right now), especially in Japan/Taiwan or UK/France. I guess my main questions are:

1. Is it possible to find an internship at all, especially with no connections? My school is more focused on sending people to graduate school rather than industries, so it's very hard to network, especially with such a narrow focus like this. 

2. If so, what kinds of companies would most likely hire me and where? I realize I won't be working at, say, P&G HQ, so where does the engineering/science stuff take place? Is it in the same city, state, country? 

I would appreciate any type of advice or info on this! I really don't know who to ask, but this place seemed like a start! Thank you!