Really? It's something I've always wondered. See so many hairdresser buying the Sally's own brand developer and using it with L'Oreal, Wella Goldwell etc just because it's cheaper than buying the correct peroxide
When you're working with a permanent range,and it comes to simply activating the colour, we all know, peroxide is peroxide. I have used many brands, including goldwell Topchic with a no brand peroxide, and it's fine.
A lot of colour ranges these days don't really have a semi permanent range. Instead, they are a permanent tint product used with a low volume peroxide, usually 1.5%. Meaning that the colour molecules are left sitting on the outside of the hair, and only penetrating through to the cortex slightly. It's great for refreshing a colour or tone on tone as it leaves the hair looking shiny and healthy. This also means that you are still using an alkaline product on the hair, which naturally is 4.5 to 5.5 acid. It is the ammonia in colours that is the alkaline that swells the hair, opening the cuticle.
However with goldwell colorance, which is a Demi permanent, it is an acid colour. As such it has it's own special developer. My knowledge on this has some holes in it, so bare with me.but basically it is a peroxide (1% I think), how ever it is designed to interact appropriately with the acid product. Colorance must be applied to wet hair (open cuticle, as there is no ammonia in the colour to open the cuticle)
As for using no brand peroxides with tints. I believe in the UK you can void your insurance? To be honest, I'm not sure if that is the case here, but I know that the manufacturer won't guarantee their product if used with another peroxide.
For the likes of goldwell, they have now incorporated their patented intralipid technology into their peroxides. Which has been in the colorance products for some time. It's beautiful. It replaces the fatty amino acids in the hair leaving it really well conditioned. It also makes the product really creamy and easy to spread, meaning you can use less of it