Essie Universe in Reverse Duo

Last summer, Essie offered two blue violet shimmers in their limited edition Mercury in Retrograde collection, an Ulta exclusive. I bought them, of course, but never got around to swatching them, much less wearing them. I was determined to not make the same mistake with this year's duo, dubbed Universe in Reverse (also known as Mercury in Retrograde II): Happy Medium and Get a Psy-kick Out of It.



Happy Medium is a bright pink with dense shimmer with a blue flash. Two coats were ample for full opacity and color.







Get a Psy-Kick OUt of It is a red violet with similar shimmer to Happy Medium. This was also a two-coater.







Despite the fact these weren't particularly sheer, I decided to try layering with them anyway. Index finger below: Happy Medium (2 coats on its own for comparison purposes). Middle and ring fingers: one coat of Happy Medium over Essie Double Breasted Jacket. Pinky: Essie Double Breasted Jacket (two coats).





I chose a deep blue base to try with Get a Pys-kick Out of It. Index: two coats of Get a Pys-kick Out of It. Middle and ring: one coat of Get a Pys-kick Out of It over Essie No More Film. Pinky: No More Film (two coats).





The shimmer showed a pink/blue shift over the dark base, much more so than on its own.



To wrap up my swatch session with these two, I laid down a base of Essie Recessionista, a deep berry creme, then topped it with Happy Medium on my index and middle fingers and Get a Psy-kick Out of It on my ring and pinky fingers. I could not tell a difference between the two shimmers on this base.





Unless you're a completist, I don't think it's necessary to buy both of these as the shimmer is so very similar. Given that it's more purple, my choice is Get a Psy-Kick Out of It.