New Delhi, Jan. 2 -- Safari Martins leads his client Ian Njenga into a sparse shack on the rural roadside in Kiambu, at the edge of metropolitan Nairobi. On the shack's wooden walls hang a shovel, iron, agricultural shears and a wrench, but Njenga is not there to buy equipment. He's there to get a haircut.

"I just use unconventional tools," Martins says, smiling, moments before sliding a razor-sharp shovel edge across Njenga's head, lopping off a swath of hair in the first of a series of moves that yields a surprisingly clean haircut.

Unconventional tools are a hallmark for Martins, who is one of Kenya's most recognizable barbers with around 1 million followers on each of his Instagram and TikTok accounts, where he is known as Chief Saf...