A modest proposal...

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I emerge from my most recent stay in a psych ward to ask men to complement women with no design or scheme behind it. Just a serious complement, no strings attached.

I used to be so shy around women. Wait, I still am! But I've been trying to make women feel beautiful by complementing them on their hair, their nails, etc. --- NOT their breasts, or their rear, or anything that can be portrayed as sexual (i.e. legs, thighs, lips, etc.)

I haven't been doing it long enough to see if it makes me any less shy, but I really enjoy the freedom I feel to complement women without having to feel embarrassed about it.

What dost thou thinkest?

A very decent proposal I don't think it would make me feel any better about myself, but as you say there's no strings attached.

Suppose you knew a chick who just got a boob job. You're not supposed to compliment her?

i complimented a woman on the artistry of her nail polish application, and she turned around and said i was sexually harrassing her. this could not be any further from the truth as she was not what i considered attractive, otherwise. i strongly suspect that if i looked like brad pitt, i would have gotten a totally different reaction.

Whether that's true or not...I don't know. I do know that was a ridiculous reaction. You never know how someone is going to react to a compliment. Shouldn't stop you from doing it though. You just have to realize there some stupid folks out there.

when that happened, my boss at the time read me the riot act, so i promised her i'd stay silent even if her hands were on fire.

just let them char until there's nothing left.

Not sure about this. The difference between "sexual" and "non-sexual" is all to do with context, not body parts.

If a man is interested in a woman, then everything about the woman can be sexual to the man, including hair and nails. That's one reason why hair colouring and nail polish exist.

And the opposite is also true - if a woman is sure that a man is not interested (e.g. the woman knows that the man is gay), then the man can even complement the woman's breasts without there being sexual overtones.

I think that is reasonable. Personally I find it very unsettling and weird when a guy (or other girls) complements me out of the blue about my eyes or hair, or shirt, or shoes. Sometimes it is flirting and I recognize it as such (not always recognize it, but getting better) and that makes me feel weird as I do not know if and how I should respond. Sometimes it is just a complement, they really liked ... whatever. It still makes me, personally feel weird.

HOWEVER, I see this behavior done frequently so I think it is a great idea for you to do. keep it up. Some people might become flustered but I do not think anyone should respond rudely to you.

I was at a sandwich shop and the employee complimented me on my lipstick color. NO BIG DEAL!! IMO. I told him thank you and thought to myself that I'd made a good color selction. I thought nothing sexual about the comment. I think some people go WAAAY overboard. Get over yourself already! It's just nail polish, lipstick or whatever. Now if he had said "That color looks super sexy on you". I may have thought a little more about it. Even then it wouldn't bother me too much.

Wow, what a horrible experience. Too bad you didn't finish your ^ thoughts you shared with us at the time.

i did relay my subsequent experience getting called on the carpet in my boss' office, who read me the riot act over the woman's accusations, and i promised my boss that henceforth i would keep silent about every woman there even if their hands were on fire. luckily my [female] boss understood my aspieness and found humor in this.

I guess I have to ask why you want to make them feel beautiful. Personally, I don't like getting compliments from anyone. I feel objectified by it.
I'm not sure of the context of your examples, but I would say if it's in the workplace, it's a bad idea.
I think by complimenting someone on something, you are making a judgement about them; it's presumptuous to assume that the person wants to hear your opinion.

...Are you kidding me? Seriously? Couldn't I say the exact same thing to you right now about your opinion?

Sorry, but I can't stand hearing you criticize someone for giving well-intentioned compliments

I'm not criticizing his intentions. I'm just pointing out how it might be taken. And yes, you could say the same thing about my opinion.

I agree. I think genuine compliments are kind and can give someone a boost. There's too much criticism and snide remarks in the world already. If people don't like them or they make someone feel uncomfortable, fair enough, we are all different, but don't shoot someone down for having a well-meaning intention.