How to describe an afro from the perspective of someone who has never seen one?

...in a world with no Africa.

Anyway, this is a tricky one. The setting is low fantasy medieval and the main character does slave liberation twice a week. This night, after breaking into a noble's home to save slaves she thinks are being held there. When she finds them, she sees that they're black, and she's never encountered black people before (her world is quite small compared to the size of the world) and while she takes no issue with their race (caring only about saving them from slavery, having been enslaved herself, plus, being an elf with no contact with humans for the first fifteen years of her life*, she still finds them interesting looking and the women pretty), she kinda needs to describe them for the narrative.

I have a fair chunk of the description down (brown skin so dark that it's almost black, odd looking but nowhere near ugly facial features such as pouted lips on the woman, etc) but the hair is trickier. I really am not sure how to describe the hair of a black person from the perspective of someone who has never seen them until now without sounding out and out racist. Help would be appreciated

• she was enslaved by one of the few elven nobles for that time if you're curious

I might suggest describing it as a sort of naturally-forming bob or bun.

Medieval times?

And is this supposed to be a narrative description or one made in-verse by someone else?

If it is the latter, they can always say "Woolly as a black sheep".

IMMENSE HAIR SPHERE OF TREMENDOUS RADIUS.

The troper's above is probably better.

"Hair cloud."

Edited by Wheezy on Jan 30th 2020 at 6:56:17 AM