One of the core foundations of Geode Swimwear is that ALL of our swimsuits are custom designed, rigorously tested and altered during the development phase to ensure our swimsuits have the most flattering fit and the best quality possible. We don't cut corners here.
While vacationing on the Portuguese island of Madeira, our quality testing took on a whole new level- a little more than we bargained for!
The island of Madeira is sometimes referred to as the "Hawaii of Europe", and for good reason! The once volcanic island features rugged mountains and lush vegetation, with endless groves of banana trees covering the south side of the island.
However, there's one "flaw" to Madeira that makes it quite different from Hawaii- there is only ONE sandy beach on the entire island. All the other beaches are rough black volcanic rock or massive cliffs- absolutely breathtaking, buuut not the best for a beach day.
Being on such a beautiful island, we just knew we had to seize the opportunity to photograph one of our swimsuits for our 2021 Resort Collection. So, we set out to find that one and only sandy beach to shoot our new, High Tide One-Piece swimsuit.
The beach was located on the opposite side of the island in a town called Seixal. There was no public transportation to the beach, and it was completely composed of dark, black sand- so to capture the beauty of the dark sand and limit the crowd, we needed to be there as close to sunrise as possible. 
We rented a car and made our voyage across the island along narrow, winding roads in the darkness of the early morning, and arrived just as the sun was rising.
We were SO excited! Photographing a white swimsuit on a black beach was a dream come true! We have always wanted to try this!
A white swimsuit + black sand....sounds glamorous right?
You know the mushy Oreo bits that are left at the bottom of your milk glass after dipping Oreos in milk? Well, as soon as we stepped out onto the beach our feet looked like we had just walked through a bunch of that Oreo mud. This was going to be trickier than expected to keep this white swimsuit clean!
We cautiously went through the shoot, keeping the model standing until we had all the shots we needed of the swimsuit, and *only* then did we risk having the model kneel, sit, and eventually lay in the sand. 
We got INCREDIBLE shots- the contrast between the white swimsuit and the dark sand was stunning! But honestly, we thought for sure the white one piece would be stained or discolored after this- it was a muddy mess!
Our model headed over to a nearby beach shower to rinse off the black sand and to our astonishment- the black dust slid RIGHT. OFF. Leaving the white swimsuit looking good as new!
Is this textured white material magical? Honestly, maybe. Because this fabric has maintained its color and quality through some of our most extreme testing! It doesn't get see-through when wet, holds up great for lake swims and paddle boarding, and even survived the black sands of Seixal.
And thats just the way we like it! Here at Geode Swimwear, we want you to feel care-free in each of our suits. No more stressing over see-through, ill-fitting, revealing, or poor quality swimsuits.
We mean it when we say feel comfortable, feel confident.
Cant wait for all the amazing adventures you'll take your Geode swimsuit on!
xoxo,
-The Geode Team
