Pregnancy
The reason why melasma is commonly known as the “mask of pregnancy” is that the melasma appears to affect 70% of the women who are pregnant. The pregnant women go through a series of hormonal imbalances, which results in higher estrogen levels and ultimately develops melasma symptoms in pregnant women. The imbalance between the increased estrogen and progesterone levels in pregnant women of second or third trimesters, especially, is the main culprit in causing melasma. The symptoms like dark patches and discoloration appear mostly during the second and third trimesters in most of the pregnant women.