I've used huggies pure from the start it says they're as gentle as cotton wool and water and tbh with everything else to get used to I couldn't be bothered arsing about, I used baby wipes with ds 15 years ago and he was okay and no one told me to only use cotton wool and water then... I dunno why they keep giving new guide lines, it's ridiculous
The reason they are started advising this is because the rates of baby eczema have continued to increase year on year. There may be lots of reasons for this but newborns do have very sensitive skin and for some babies exposing the skin to the chemicals in wipes can trigger things off. To my knowledge they're aren't any official guidelines saying that you should use cotton wool and water, but many midwives suggest it as from their own experience they have seen less problems in the babies that have only had water used early on.
To the OP: I used cotton wool and water at home for about 3 months but when I was out and about I used wipes. Can't remember what brand but it was one of the "sensitive" ones like Pampers extra sensitive or something. I would be cautious if you have any eczema or allergies in your family, but other than that you can only try them and see how your baby gets on with them. My DD has never any reactions to wipes but all babies are different.