Brushes were packed in a Plastiktächschen, everything was odorless and identical to the photo. For the price we did not expect much, you should not either.
In the first brushes some hair broke very quickly. Some were from something. Most brush heads were not, so we have trimmed it, so you just have a finer structure and better able to paint.
As such we are (my sister and I) satisfied and would buy the brush again. In just under 3 euros for as many brush we can not complain and since October 2014, it hold forth