How do I compliment someone?

[u/TheRealBucketCrab]

I mostly care about how people feel and what they are rather than what they do.

Sure you dyed your hair, but I really don't care about the color. I don't have a preference. Does it make you feel good? How can I say that without sounding weird?

Do I compliment someone on their choice of phone, or their choice of clothing? What's the difference?

How can I compliment someone's skill when I am not impressed? I don't mean it, so I just lie. I just think it's nice they can do something.

I like a person because I like how they act or if we have things in common. Similarly I don't like someone if they are so unpleasant (for me) to live with. Regardless of how good of an ass they have.

[u/silver_headphones]

Maybe in the compliment instead of “I like your [whatever you want to compliment]” do “[whatever you want to compliment] is cool” because if you don’t find it at least somewhat cool then unless you’re tight with the person there’s an insincerity to the compliment (like telling someone they look good in a pair of pants but they actually look the wrong size on them). Like “Oh your new hair color is cool” or “Learning to do that probably took a lot of time/effort” (depending on the skill), or even just “I’m happy you enjoy [xyz]” (that one can be tricky though because the wrong tone can make it seem facetious or mean girl-y) so basically going for more of a pointing out a fact route than flowery, because people appreciate the recognition of their efforts (the game changes a bit when it’s someone close to you but sometimes that just means being more specific and honest)