David Giuliani, founder and CEO, Pacific Bioscience Laboratories Inc. (Bellevue)

Pacific Bioscience Laboratories’ director of operations, Bill Vrana (left), and president, David Giuliani, stand in the company’s Bellevue factory.

Can lightning strike twice for an entrepreneur in the highly competitive consumer-products field? Can an American company make it in the consumer products industry while still keeping its manufacturing in the United States?

David Giuliani hopes so. Having scored once with the Sonicare toothbrush (sold to Philips), he’s back with the Clarisonic, a device that uses the same principles of sonic vibrations, only this time used to cleanse skin.

Coming up with the device is only a small part of the battle in the consumer products game. Marketing is a huge component, especially for a relatively small company. But Clarisonic is getting the word out with appearances on QVC, prominent placement on Oprah Winfrey’s and Ellen DeGeneres’ talk shows, and promotional campaigns with retailers like Nordstrom and with the makers of skin care products that are advertised as being “great with your Clarisonic.” The company is also now selling its products in the United Kingdom.

Pacific Bioscience builds its products in a small space in Factoria. That’s a deliberate strategy. By doing its own manufacturing domestically, Giuliani says, the company has greater flexibility in production, more control of quality and less vulnerability to knockoffs. Having product designers and manufacturing in house, he adds, also makes it easier to develop new products.

Which is exactly what Clarisonic is up to. Having rolled out the classic model at $195 and the Plus at $225, the firm introduced the Mia, a compact model at $149. The next addition to the lineup is the Opal, a sonic infusion device, which, used with a cream, attacks facial wrinkles and fine lines.

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