Vanity

Vanity: Definition:
Excessive pride in one's appearance or accomplishments; to be conceited.
In other words, you think you're all that.

You're so pretty!
Thank you, I've worked really hard to be born of my parents who have supplied me with half of their genetic information and somehow created a physically attractive offspring.

But no, nobody says that. 

I've been racking my brain trying to figure out the appropriate response to a compliment that no one has ever once actually done anything to deserve. "Thank you" is most definitely out. I feel as though thanking someone after a compliment is such a weird concept. Doesn't it make more sense for us to just reciprocate their actions and say something that we like about them? And why not even take it a step further and compliment something we like about their personality, not their appearance. We are all so caught up in looks that we forget that God spent time making you the person you ARE. I'm almost certain that for every one, the way they look was just a last minute, nonchalant decision, that wasn't ever meant to be dwelled upon nearly as much as it has.  

When faced with nothing but a vain and shallow compliment, before offering a vain and shallow response, I believe that we should think about what we should really see in each other.

1 Peter 3-4
"Don't be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes.You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."