I'm weird. My SO never compliments my appearance, and I've never even given it any thought or been bothered by it. I don't really compliment him either.

I know I look okay and he knows he looks okay and very rarely do either of us ever discuss our looks with each other.
I'm not trying to be rude, but why did you feel like you have to try and get him to compliment you? Generally speaking, at least knowing the guys I know, guys get annoyed when women try to fish for compliments (ie. How do I look? Do I look like I've lost weight? etc.) They all know they're supposed to answer with a compliment.
I don't think men really notice things like appearance on people they see every day. They don't NOT say anything to be mean, they just don't see what the big deal is. Maybe one of the guys here can back me up, since I'm not a guy, I guess I'm just taking a guess.
If it really bothers you (again, I'm just guessing since you went online to complain about it, I'm presuming you were bothered by this) , I'd have a talk with him about it and see how he feels about the subject. I wouldn't be angry at him for it though. Chances are, he's just oblivious to it because MOST men just don't take appearance/clothes/hairstyles as seriously as women do.
ETA : I REALLY do not mean this post to sound mean. I just know a woman IRL who freaks out if her DH doesn't compliment her and gets really upset by it and I worry about her.