I've always been really forward, like telling a girl she's beautiful etc. (paired with physical escalation) as a way of escalating and letting her know I'm interested. A lot of the time it changes the mood and makes it easier to get things friskier.

Or if it's outside of a party context I would tell her she's beautiful (reusing the example) as a way to transition to suggesting a date etc.

I think it goes against what the advice is on flirting, and I've only gotten away with it because I'm a good looking dude.

But I wanna get it right.

What's the balance between playing it cool and letting her know you're interested?