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Yes, wet cotton as your base layer is perhaps one of the safest recipes for hypothermia.the three with all cotton succumbed to hypothermia. The one wearing wool was the sole surviver
One thing that's seldom mentioned, though, when the topic of warm feet or hands is discussed, is the importance of keeping your core warm. If you're a bit cold, your body will preserve heat by restricting circulation to the outer extremities, i.e. your hands and feet, and they'll be cold. OTOH, if you're on the slightly warm side of optimal, your body will increase circulation to the outer parts of your body to dump heat, and your feet and hands stay warm in impressively thin protection. I've hiked in -20, and when I get my core temp up, I can walk bare-handed without my fingers being cold at all. And when I sit down for a break, my feet are the first bodypart that gets cold.
As I'm fond of saying: If you feet are cold, put on a sweater. And one piece of warm headgear covering your neck as well makes up for at least one sweater.
tl/dr version: First of all, make sure your head and core are warm. Then you can worry about your hands and feet.