Zine Review: That Story About the One Time I Dyed My Hair

ZINES_That-Story-hair-dyeThat story about the one time I dyed my hair and got so high on myself I made a whole stupid zine about it
Perzine, Keight MacLean, 13 pgs, keightmaclean.com, $5

I mean, c’mon, the title itself is a keeper. Who doesn’t want to get high on themselves? We all work hard enough. Within one glance I knew this zine by Keight MacLean, a self-loving dark goddess, would validate the times I’ve shaken and poured the ammonia-smelling liquid called hair dye over my head and nearly gassed myself in the bathroom. On a superficial level, it’s a fun zine jabbing at MacLean’s own vanity with a ‘who cares’ attitude. On a deeper level though — and honestly, let’s go there — it feels like MacLean is demonstrating the one time I dyed my hair is a metaphor about life. It changes, it’s not a big deal, and you can be exactly who and what you want to be, ultimately, with courage. If you follow MacLean on her various social media accounts or peruse her website, you can find her stunning artwork, which lends itself well to her zine. After briefly meeting Keight at her booth at Canzine in Toronto, I can say she very accurately translates not only her image but her spirit into her zine. Having some colour in the one time I dyed my hair could have brought more dimension as the black and white images, superbly drawn as they are, feel a little flat. Overall, I think you’d appreciate this zine if you’ve done some spur-of-the-moment transformations at home and have had a change of heart almost immediately afterwards. MacLean unabashedly admits to dyeing her hair 5 more times between the zine’s conception to its completion. You rock, dark goddess, you rock. (KK Taylor)