Serpents Sting skin

I just picked up the Serpents Sting universal heirloom, but didn't purchase the Crimson Ripper "upgrade," yet it still displays the red chainsaw look during gameplay. Anybody else have this issue?

I've heard that the game wouldn't allow players to revert to the original skin after purchasing the upgrade, so I held off. Can anybody confirm if this is still an issue as well?

Edit: After some playing around, the Crimson Ripper upgrade seems to equip itself on and off randomly. Also, there's a unique Crypto animation with the weapon as well.