Everyone’s experienced it: you’re walking down the street, minding your own business, when out of nowhere a gorgeous woman who looks like everything you’ve ever wanted to be stops and says to you “I love your lipstick! It looks great!” Ordinarily, this would make your day, possibly even your week depending on how low your self-esteem is. Ordinarily, you would respond with “Thank you so much! This is my go-to shade!” But this moment is different. In this moment, you aren’t wearing any lipstick. The pinky-redness of your lips is not in fact due to your flawless application of Too-Faced’s Spice Spice Baby* this morning, but rather your complete lack of facial hygiene and inability to effectively hydrate your lips on a daily basis. In essence, your lips are chapped as hell. What do you do? How do you respond to a compliment that you are entirely undeserving of? Well, luckily for you, The Sundial has compiled the 4 best responses to this exact scenario.

#1. Be Honest

This method involves fessing up to being a horrible person who can’t take care of themselves even a little and therefore should be avoided at all costs. Admitting that your lips are chapped will make the situation more awkward and you will spend the rest of the day agonizing over what that woman must think of you. However, it appears on this list because it is what a “good person” would do. 

#2. Compliment The Woman On HER Makeup

This method is the best of both worlds. You get to express (valid) doubts about your appearance while praising another woman for her beauty, thus making you feel terrible for the way you treat yourself while making you feel good for being nice. Simply begin throwing out compliment after compliment about the woman’s look and refuse to accept any praise she gives your appearance. This will absolve you of the guilt of accepting a compliment you don’t deserve, and leave you feeling a little less hollow after making that woman’s day. (Note: This strategy often results in what is known as a “no, you” spiral and is therefore very time consuming. If you need a quicker fix, then be prepared to deal with the fact that it just won’t be as fulfilling.)

#3. Stammer Out An Overly Detailed Yet False Description Of How Much You Love This Lip Color

(Note: This method works best if you have a shade of lipstick that you are inextricably attached to and tend to wear all of the time. For the author, it’s a dusty pink that is so close to her actual lip color that honestly, why is she even wearing it?) For this strategy, all you need to do is memorize a few buzz words about lipstick such as “long-lasting”, “vibrant color”, and “from the cheap side of Ulta**”. Then, pepper in a few excited “thank you so much!”s and “Oh my gosh do you really think it looks that good?!”s.  Be sure to mention the specific shade you are “wearing” as much as possible. This makes the lie more believable. If you say these things quickly and with as little nervous energy as possible, you might happen to seem like you know what you are talking about.

#4. Pretend You Didn’t Hear The Compliment

This is an extremely effective strategy that, if used properly, can be applied to many similar situations. By ignoring the fact that anything has been said at all and simply going about your day, you can trick yourself into thinking that the woman who complimented you believes that you are merely hard of hearing or constantly in a complete daze. However, this only works if you are able to not be startled by a gorgeous woman complimenting you in the streets, which is impossible, so you might as well not even try this option.

*This is not sponsored. The Sundial Humor Magazine likes to support corporations out of pure love for the capitalist system in which we are all thriving.

**This IS sponsored. Check out The Sundial Humor Magazine x Ulta Beauty collab video on our YouTube channel and look out for coupons in our monthly zine! 

Written by Francesca Varga, Social Media Officer