In 1935 a woman named Sally took over her family's failing cosmetics store, renamed it House of Hollywood and started selling what she called medically formulated cosmetics. She had been born Sally Genevieve Finney. Nobody was waiting for a nail empire to come out of a store that was losing money, and yet that is where the polish in your drawer began.

I like starting there because the legend most people know is wrong. For years the brand's own copy gave Sally a chemist husband, and Refinery29's reporting says there was no such man. She founded Sally Hansen, Inc. in New York in 1946, and Hard As Nails, one of her first two products, went on to become the brand's first patent filing in 1957. The company later passed to Maradel, then Del Labs, and Coty bought it in 2007. What I love is the spirit that survived all of that: sally hansen has always been the salon idea handed to people who do not have a free Saturday. It calls itself the number one nail brand in the US, and I read that as its own claim.

The trick is to treat the first grid as a small system and not eight separate impulses. Miracle Gel comes in two edits here, Blacks, Whites, Nudes & Browns and Pinks & Purples, and the brand says it needs no UV lamp, just two coats of colour and its gel top coat. Insta-Dri in Neutrals and in Pinks/Purples is the quicker, everyday polish. Color Therapy and the scented Color Therapy collection are the ones I would give a friend who wants nail care and colour in one bottle, Xtreme Wear Concrete Jungle is the tougher, more playful set, and Hard As Nails Advance in Clear is the old family recipe, worn on its own.

Start with the top coat, because it does more of the work than the colour does. A polish job lasts as long as its seal, and the seal is the last thing you paint on. Run the brush over the free edge of the nail too, a thin swipe along the tip, and chips start later.

This grid is where I would spend my attention. Double Duty and Ultimate Shield both work as base and top coat in one bottle, which suits anyone who owns exactly one clear polish and refuses to buy a second. Dries Instantly is the quick sealer for the night you are already late, and No Chip Acrylic is the one to try if you are hard on your hands. The Salon Gel Polish Gel Base Coat and Gel Top Coat are a matched pair, so keep them together instead of mixing and matching.

Advanced Hard As Nails Strengthening Top Coat and Diamond Strength Instant Nail Hardener are for nails that bend and split before they get long. I would use the hardener on bare nails as a week of care, then go back to colour.

A pairing I like: Miracle Gel colour from the first grid under the brand's own gel top coat, since the two are designed to go together.

What I would skip: a thick hardener over a nail that is already brittle and dry. If it feels stiff and snaps, switch to the treatments below.

One rule for nail treatments: buy for the problem you actually have, not the one on the bottle you liked. Peeling, thin, slow and ridged nails are four different conversations, and this shelf has an answer for each.

Nailgrowth Miracle Treatment and Treatment Maximum Growth are for anyone whose nails break before they ever get long. Nail Rehab Nail Strengthener and Miracle Nail Thickener are for the thin, flexible kind, and the Repair + Rescue Super Strength Defense sits in the same family. Gel Rehab Nail Repair Serum is the serum of the group, and I would keep it on the nightstand where you remember it. Complete Care 7 in 1 is the one bottle for someone who wants a single step. The Repair + Rescue Insta-Smooth Ridge Filler is the one for ridged nails, worth trying under colour before a big event.

Every one of these asks for the same habit: apply on clean, dry, bare nails and do it again at the same time each day. Nails grow slowly, and a treatment you use twice in a fortnight tells you nothing.

What I would skip: piling on three different strengtheners at once. Choose one, give it a few weeks, and keep the notes.

Here is how I would finish a manicure: a drop of oil on each cuticle before bed, every night, for the first week. It takes ten seconds, and it is the difference between polish that looks fresh and polish that looks clean but crusty at the edges.

Vitamin E Nail & Cuticle Oil is the everyday one. Cuticle Massage Cream is thicker, more of a hand-cream moment, and Treatment Cuticle Rehab is the one for a rough patch that has been bothering you. Instant Cuticle Remover Oil is what to use before a manicure, when you want the skin soft enough to push back gently. The Push & Buff 2-in-1 Cuticle Pen goes in a bag for that, the sort of thing you use in a taxi.

Then the tools. The Nip Em Neat cuticle nipper is for hangnails only, not for cutting live skin. The Salon Effects Pro Nail Files and Nail Buffer are the quiet heroes: file in one direction, buff lightly, and the polish grips better.

A pairing I like: the remover oil while the bathwater runs, the nipper on any loose bits afterwards, then oil before bed.

What I would skip: nipping at your cuticles more than once a month. They are there to protect the nail, and pushing them back is usually enough.

I think this is the rare brand where a small first order is the right one. Buy one Miracle Gel shade you would wear anywhere, a good top coat, a bottle of Vitamin E oil and one treatment for your worst problem. That is the whole home manicure.

Then let it settle, and add colour after you have seen how your nails behave. Sally took a failing store in 1935 and made it into a name. You are just doing your nails on a Sunday, which is a lot easier. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Manucurist Paris and The Best Nail Polish Is the One That Survives Your Week.