L’Amourose were a complete shock and surprise. The Rosa was an absolute dream. It was strong, rumbly and just an absolute beauty to behold. This was a company that really understood what their customers want when it comes to luxurious pleasure products.
It’s not difficult to see why I named the original Rosa my top pick of 2014. To this day, I still cannot find any major fault to the Rosa (except perhaps button placement). But when I found out that L’Amourose were working on a new version, one that would feature a brand new heated element, I knew I had to get one, even if it was just to do a brief comparison. And the sex toy god looked down on me and said “Yeah, OK. Sure!”.
The Rosa Rouge comes purely in red and features additional vibration settings as well as a brand new heating element, which means the tip of the Rouge now provides additional warming sensations internally. Naturally, I was curious as to whether this would make a huge difference to proceedings, and I was pretty certain the Rosa on it’s own was pretty damn as close to perfection as you are going to get.
L’Amourose got in touch with me over twitter, and asked if there was any of their products I would be interested in reviewing for them, and of course the Rouge was top of the list! They arranged for a Rouge to be sent to me via Pasante in the UK – I was very surprised when it turned up, especially as I’d already taken a delivery of other toys that day too – Lucky me!
Note: Please forgive the photos – for some reason, despite looking gorgeous in the flesh, when I took photo’s, it kept coming it out looking bright pink, rather than the luscious red colour it actually is – so I had to try and manipulate the photos slightly in Photoshop to enhance the colour to get it closer to what it actually looks like – with varying levels of success.
First Impressions
I’ve been a bit slack at getting all these reviews done, and this has been practically teasing me since it arrived. But it has finally been put through it’s paces and here are my final thoughts.
Like the Rosa, the Rouge is packaged beautifully. It arrives in this sleek, matte red box with gold embossed logo on one side, and then a picture of the Rouge on the other. All the text is in gold, which feels elegant, however I have to admit was difficult to read, unless I held it in the exact right angle. But come on, no-one really cares what’s on the outside – it’s what’s inside that counts! (true with toys as is with life). Inside, you get the nice black solid keepsake box with the elasticated ribbon. As you lift off the lid, you are greeted by the Rouge sitting on its charging base. Lifting the Rouge and Base, you will find another compartment which hides the UK plug, Manual, Warranty card and a soft storage bag.
The Rouge is exactly the same size and shape as the original Rosa (5 inches insertable with 4.5 inch circumference at it’s widest point). Coated with the same soft, silky luxurious silicone in a rather eye-popping red – it feels every bit the luxury toy you would expect. I think the presentation and overall craftsmanship really puts companies like LELO to shame – This is how you do LUXURY. Sit up and take note, people!
Like the original Rosa, it has 2 motors – one in the shaft and one in the base, and there are at least 9 different patterns (at least that’s what I counted) which is 2 more than the Rosa (at least). Ranging from constant vibrations to varying pulses and buzzes – and like the original, each pattern can be increased or decreased to find the intensity right for you. The major difference is the introduction of the heating element in the tip. When you turn the Rouge on, the tip will start to warm up (takes about 5 minutes) and reaches a toasty 40 degrees celsius. The Rouge features Thermal Regulation technology (which basically is there to prevent the Rouge from overheating). It just means that during use, you will never find your insides being burnt or singed – it’s just a nice, pleasant warm feeling.
The Rouge comes with some residual charge, so you might get a quick go out of it, but I would recommend giving it a full charge (which can take approx 2-3 hours) before giving it a proper go. The docking station makes it nice and easy, and let’s face it – it looks quite snazzy too.
In Use
You know, I’m not going to spend too much time discussing how the Rouge feels for the most part, because I think I covered most of that in the original review. But I’ll recap the key points. The Rouge is definitely something I would say is best for those who are at least a bit experienced with anal play – as the wider tip could be a struggle for some, you may wish to ‘warm’ yourself up a little before use, just to ensure insertion is nice and smooth. The thin neck of the Rouge is flexible, meaning it will move with your body (they call it Flex ‘n’ shift technology) so you should be able to get yourself into whatever position you find most comfortable when using a toy like this. I personally prefer to be on my back with my legs slightly raised – this helps direct the tip where I want it to be.
My one small issue with the Rosa is obviously present here – once you have inserted the Rouge, it can be quite difficult to access the buttons (as they are quite small and very close together at the base of the Rouge) once you have inserted, and more often then not, I’ve found myself accidentally pressing the wrong button because I just can’t tell what I’m pressing. This can be a little annoying when you are playing solo – but if you are using this with a partner, well they can take control, and you can just lie there and relax. I only hope that in the future, L’Amourose consider making something like this with a remote control – it would certainly make things so much easier and would completely eradicate what is admittedly a small frustration, with an otherwise perfect toy.
So how does it feel? Well every bit as good as the Rosa – which is to be expected. I mean, there is no difference in motors – so the Rouge is delivering the same deep, intense and rumbly vibrations that the original Rosa provided – and we all know that it worked VERY well for me. In fact, it didn’t take very long for me to reach orgasm at all – on it’s maximum setting, you really can feel those vibrations reverberate throughout your whole body – making an session with the Rouge feel almost like an out of body experience.
But the big question is – does the heated element really make a difference?
Well, short answer is yes. The longer I lay there, the more I began to feel the heat as the tip was vibrating hard against my prostate. Initially, I hadn’t really felt a difference – it felt like the original Rosa. But gradually, I could feel that warmth inside – subtle at first, but it became more pronounced. It was a really nice feeling – similar to what I feel when I’ve warmed up a glass dildo – it somehow just makes me feel a little bit more sensitive, which means that when I eventually get to the point where I can’t hold on any longer, my orgasm is definitely more intense.
Clean-up and Maintenance
The Rouge unit is completely waterproof, so you can rinse with warm water and toy cleaner. When it comes to storage,you can either keep it inside the storage bag provided – or you can keep it in the box like I do (I just feel too guilty about throwing away luxury packaging like that!). It’s a total lint magnet, as to be expected with other silicone products – but a quick wipe over with a sex toy wipe or damp cloth will soon sort that out.
Summary
Is the Rouge better than the Rosa? Well, in some respects – yes – the heated element does provide something new and it really does feel great inside. The 2 additional vibration patterns are also a nice little touch, but honestly, they weren’t anything outstanding – the original Rosa’s 7 patterns were more than enough for me. Do I think it’s worth the extra £30? Well, that’s really for you to decide. If you enjoy temperature play with glass and metal, then the heating element in the Rouge will probably tick all your boxes, especially when combined with those deep, rumbly vibrations. Is it worth upgrading from the Rosa to the Rouge? Again, that’s really down to whether you like your toys heated. For me, personally, the added heating element produced additional sensitivity which certainly heightened my orgasm, and anything that can do that is definitely worth it in my book. But if the heat doesn’t really bother you all that much, the original Rosa is still a worthwhile investment.
Where to Buy
Note: Sadly, this product (and the brand) are no longer around!
The Rosa Rouge was arranged to be sent to me by Pasante by L’Amourose in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my experiences or opinions using the toy – all experiences and opinions presented here are 100% my own. Some affiliate links have been used within this post.
