Not the feeeeeemales, lol. Anyway, do it casually and in earnest, like you’re just pointing something out (even if you don’t exactly know what has changed) instead of trying to ingratiate yourself with them (“did you do something to your hair? It looks great!”; “wow, your handwriting is lovely”; “damn, great X, it really compliments you”). Like, do it for good reasons and I’m sure you’ll be fine: spreading positivity and making those around you happier (without lying, ofc). And then continue the conversation.

As a straight man married into a semi-matriarchy, who was also the man of the house since the age of 15 and has mostly female friends, I can confidently tell you a compliment or two will go very far with women in all age groups, and you should try sliding one early into every convo, and also to distract them if the convo gets too deep and into territories that are gonna start an argument if you remain truthful. I literally did this yesterday with my wife’s crazier aunt before the conversation went south: “damn, that eyeliner really make your eyes pop, I got a little lost there! Hehe”. And I managed to then change the topic, lol. My wife was sitting next to me and just texted me “👌”. Just for reference, the aunty is close to or 60 so yeah, boys will be boys and girls will be girls.