Hair! Haircare, Styling, all things hair.

Hi, I hope this isn't a weird or stupid question.

I only recently started using Alice bands (regrowing my hair properly for the first time in YEARS) and I'm in love. Since using Alice bands, I actually don't want hair ties to go near my hair again lol, they feel restricting and awful in comparison.

But I know that there are different types and I feel like before shopping blind again, it would be nice to know what the best types are. I've been using straight up plastic, skinny Alice bands, which are now both broken in the same place right in the middle. They weren't ideal in the first place though, they never quite fit my head nicely and the plastic always felt too hard and rigid. So basically I'm asking if there's any specific materials or widths or types I should be looking out for. And something that lasts more than a few months before breaking.

And my bonus question: what do you guys do with your hair when you sleep? When I was younger, it's like my hair was made of silk and I could practically roll out of bed, flick my hair and be ready for the day. These days it's like I'm having wrestling matches in my sleep and I'm almost guaranteed a knotty mess in the morning. So I'm just wondering, those of you who are a little more tenured with long hair, do you do anything in particular with your hair before sleeping to save it? Or do you just deal with the mess every morning like I do?