I think they are. I have had most of mine for about 13 years. They went through HS, college (where I wasn't too kind to them, nor was my puppy who used quite a few as a chew toy (2 still have teeth markes in the ferrule)) They are as soft as they were on day one, and in excellent condition. I have only ever used them with Bobbi Brown cosmetics, and find them perfect for textures of BB makeup. I have only starting using MAC in April and found that I could not really get the BB brushes to work well with my MAC makeup, and vice versa so I had to buy all MAC brushes too.....maybe I'm just picky??