Sexual Health – Winter 2025-2026

Summary

Sexual Health Winter 2026 leads with "Your Essential Guide to Intimate Wellness" and features Dr. Sadie Allison on the cover — "The sexual wellness vet reflects on awakening the conversation about women's pleasure." The issue explores AI relationships, gender expression through sex toys, intimacy rituals, and a new brand launch from Aia.

The contents (p.8-56) open with "Wired for Connection" (p.8), an investigation into people who date AI companies and whether that constitutes intimacy. "Choose Your Adventure" (p.10) explores how gender expression relates to sex-toy use. "Intimacy Crisis" (p.12) argues that AI is not the problem — it is our approach to connection that needs change. "Voices of Intimacy" (p.14) promotes storytelling as a tool for sex discussions. "Season of Softness" (p.16) reframes winter desire as an opportunity for self-care. "Forget Resolutions" (p.18) proposes sexual-wellness rituals as an alternative to New Year goals.

The cover interview with Dr. Sadie Allison (p.22) traces her career from sex educator to product developer to media personality, with specific advice on communicating pleasure needs to partners. "Top Picks" (p.42) features contributor-tested sex toys. "Launch Off" (p.56) profiles Aia, a new intimacy-products brand, and "Timeless Pleasure" (p.56) introduces Le Wand's new Classique massager line.

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Content Guide

p.8 · Wired for Connection
An investigation into AI relationship chatbots — specifically the growing number of users who report emotional attachment to conversational AI. The article interviews a psychologist who distinguishes between "companion AI" and genuine intimacy, and includes user testimonials. The conclusion: AI can reduce loneliness but cannot replace reciprocity.

p.16 · Season of Softness
A winter-themed article on how cold weather and shorter days affect desire, proposing a reframe: instead of fighting winter's low-energy pull, use it for slower, more sensory-focused intimacy. The article suggests specific winter practices: longer foreplay, flannel sheets, candlelit spaces, and body-warm lubricants. Practical winter-specific sex advice that acknowledges seasonal reality.

p.22 · Dr. Sadie Allison
The cover interview traces Allison's 20-year career from teaching sex-ed at Stanford to founding a pleasure-product company. She gives specific communication scripts: "I want to try something new — can we explore together?" instead of "You're not satisfying me." The takeaway is a set of sentence starters for requesting sexual change without triggering defensiveness.

p.42 · Top Picks
Contributors test 10 sex toys across categories: clitoral stimulators, G-spot vibrators, couples' rings, and male masturbators. Each review includes a material note (silicone grade, phthalate-free status), noise level rating, and battery life. The testers are diverse in age, body type, and relationship status, lending credibility to the recommendations.

p.56 · Launch Off — Aia
A profile of Aia, a new intimacy-product brand founded by a former NHS sexual-health nurse. The brand focuses on menopause-specific products: vaginal moisturisers, dilator sets, and lubricants formulated without glycerin or parabens. The clinical background of the founder distinguishes Aia from the aesthetic-first brands in the market.

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Editor's Take

The Winter 2026 issue is the stronger of the two Sexual Health issues in this collection, largely because the AI-relationship article asks a question worth asking — can chatbot intimacy be real? — and answers it honestly (no, but it reveals what we are missing). The Dr. Sadie Allison interview is a career retrospective that earns its cover placement through specific communication scripts rather than general wisdom. The weakness is that "Choose Your Adventure" on gender expression and toys (p.10) is too short to develop its premise — it raises the idea that a person's toy preferences may signal gender identity shifts but offers no evidence. The "Voices of Intimacy" storytelling piece (p.14) is conceptually strong but reads as an introduction to a longer project rather than a complete article. The brand-launch pieces (Aia, Le Wand) are PR-content adjacent, though the Aia profile is more critical than typical brand coverage.

Strengths
• AI-relationship article asks a genuinely new question
• Dr. Sadie Allison interview provides specific communication scripts
• Season of Softness reframes winter desire practically

Weaknesses
• Gender-expression and toys piece is underdeveloped
• Brand launch profiles border on PR content

Verdict: Recommended — The strongest Sexual Health issue of the two in this collection, with the AI-relationship piece and Allison interview providing substantive reading alongside the product content.